igoiseeishoot

Drive from Jozankei Onsen to Kutchan with stops at Nakayama Pass, Aikawa VIewpoint and Fukidashi Park

2026-07-15T22:11:55.541+08:00

26 May 2026

After pampering ourselves in Jozankei Onsen, the next area to explore in our Hokkaido road trip was the Niseko resort area.

The Niseko area is the Japan’s most renowned ski destination, globally famous for its consistent, ultra-light powder snow. In late May, the ski season is over but there are still plenty to see and do in the area.

Three sizable towns are located around this area - Kutchan, Hirafu and Niseko. We will be driving to Kutchan to see some attractions located in this town before heading southwards to Hirafu and Niseko.

Kutchan is just about an hour’s drive from Jozankei Onsen via National Route 230 and 276. I had planned to make stops at Nakayama Pass, Aikawa Viewpoint and Fukidashi Park during this journey.

Nakayama Pass

Located about 30 minutes by car from Jozankei Onsen, Nakayama Pass is situated almost exactly in the middle of National Route 230, which crosses Shikotsu-Toya National Park.

From near the summit of this mountain pass, at an altitude of 836 metres, a magnificent panorama unfolds, including Mount Yotei.

Mount Yotei is a beautiful, 1,898 meter inactive volcano in Hokkaido and it looks a bit like Mount Fuji in Tokyo with its near-perfect conical shape. Hence, people call it "Ezo Fuji” which means "Hokkaido’s Fuji".

A good place to stop is at the Nakayama Pass Roadside Rest Area (michi-no-eki). Like any typical michi-no-eki, there are ample free parking, restrooms, restaurants and stores selling local food and products.

Our first photo of Mount Yotei was at Nakayama Pass Roadside Rest Area.

This roadside station was bustling with people. In there, there is a store selling the famous "ageimo" (fried potatoes). This famous store has sold their fried potato since 1968 and there is always a queue. We had to buy the ticket for the food from a machine before presenting it to the staff at the collection counter.

Queuing to collect our food.

The "ageimo" here comes with three fried potatoes on a single skewer.

There is an eating corner with different condiments that we could add to our ageimo. We chose to eat it “as is” first before adding some spicy sauce.

The freshly cooked ageimo was crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Definitely a good, delicious snack on a road trip.

Aikawa Viewpoint

View of Mount Yotei for most of the drive towards Kutchan.

Shortly after passing through the small town of Kimobetsu, we drove along National Route 276. We were lucky to see Mount Yotei on this fairly clear day.

View of Mount Yotei from the car as we drove along National Route 276. The road along this highway seems to point directly at the mountain.

There is a small viewpoint parking along this highway where we made a brief stop to snap some photos. Google Map location here.

We saw some people risking their lives by standing in the middle of the highway to get the “perfect” shot. Not us.

We made a brief stop to snap some photos.

Fukidashi Park

Scenic drive towards Kutchan.

Our last stop before arriving at Kutchan is Fukidashi Park, located at the foot of Mount Yotei. Admission is free of charge.

Fukidashi Park is a serene spot where visitors can rest and relax.

This park is renowned for having one of the highest spring discharge rates in Japan with a daily flow of approximately 80,000 tons of water. Rain and snow from Mount Yotei, slowly filtering through layers of volcanic rock over many years, emerge as a gently purified spring of renowned water that is rich in minerals.

The water can be freely drawn from various spring points within the park. Kept at a constant temperature of approximately 6.5°C all year round, the spring feels instantly refreshing.

We saw local residents with large plastic containers on a push-cart coming to collect nature’s gift.

Pipes draw water from the natural spring to allow for easy collection.

Visitors are encouraged to bring bottles or flasks. We also collected some to try.
Long exposure photo of the spring cascade.

Footpath and bridge over the spring.

Spring water is also emerging from the top of this pile of mossy rocks.

After a relaxing stroll through Fukidashi Park and tasting the famous spring water, we continued on our drive to our next destination in Kutchan. The drive was very scenic, with views of Mount Yotei in the background.

Mount Yotei with the flat top that is the crater.

Next Post: Exploring Niseko Area in late Spring – Mishasan’s Shibazakura Garden and Takahashi Diary Farm.

Pampering ourselves at the Shogetsu Grand Hotel in Jozankei Onsen

2026-07-13T13:09:29.245+08:00

25 and 26 May 2026

Jozankei Onsen is a historic hot spring town located just 1 hour from central Sapporo, Hokkaido. It is famous for its sodium chloride-rich therapeutic waters, dozens of traditional ryokans, and stunning seasonal nature views. I chose to stay in a luxurious hot spring hotel at this place on Day 3 of my Hokkaido road trip.

After driving from Asakikawa to Jozankei Onsen with some sightseeing stops en-route (see previous post), we arrived at the Shogetsu Grand Hotel at about 4 PM.

Shogetsu Grand Hotel is the brown building on the top right.

The hotel is perched on high ground, overlooking a river gorge with the Toyohira River. It is the only hotel here where every room faces the valley and its greenery in May.

The lobby is located on the 6th floor as viewed from the river, but it is actually at ground level when viewed from the main road passing through the town.

Our Room

I had booked a Premium Room with King-sized bed and a private hot bath. We were allocated a room on the 8th floor, their highest floor. After staying 2 nights in a small double room at JR Inn Asahikawa, this room at 67 m²felt so spacious and luxurious.

Complimentary drip coffee and welcome sweets were placed on the counter.

The room features hardwood floors, a large round daybed in the sitting area and a spacious scenic bath with view of the valley.

The greenish water in the bath is actually boiled water and not from the natural hot spring.

Hospitality Services at the Shogetsu Club Lounge

Various complimentary Hospitality Services are offered to guests at the Shogetsu Club Lounge, located on the 6th floor. These are offered from 3 PM check-in time right up to check-out time the next day.

Time	Hospitality Service
15:00-19:00	Manju (sweet buns) from Daikokuya, a famous confectionery shop in Jozankei
16:00-18:00	Dashi (Japanese soup stock) Bar
16:00-22:00	Honey Buffet
17:00-18:00	Post-Bath Beer
19:00-21:30	Evening Dessert
19:00-23:00	Infusion (Infused Liquor)
21:00-22:00	Late-Night Noodles
21:30-23:00	Wine
7:30-10:30	Morning Dessert

After settling in, we went to the lounge to relax with tea and manju (sweet buns) from Daikokuya, a famous confectionary shop in Jozankei. We were also in time to enjoy the honey buffet.

The buffet featured a wide selection of honeys that we could taste with dough sticks, crackers or yogurt.

Tea with manju, and honey and snacks from the honey buffet.

The lounge featured floor to ceiling glass windows. We could take our time to enjoy the collection of unique honeys from around the world while gazing at the stream below.

There is also a newly opened dashi bar with three types of dashi: bonito, kelp, and shrimp, along with toppings such as plum, wheat gluten, and grated kelp. The staff was helpful to explain which toppings goes well with which dashi.

The rich umami of carefully prepared kelp and bonito hot soup was quite tasty.

We skipped the free flow beer service and went back to our room to use the hot bath and get ready for our kaiseki or traditional multi-course Japanese dinner that is scheduled at 6 PM.

Samue (Japanese work clothes) were provided in the room’s wardrobe for us to wear to meals, to the onsen or walking around the hotel. We chose to go in our own attire.

Spring 2026 Golden Moon kaiseki Dinner

Our dinner was held in a large restaurant named "Oborozuki" located on the 5th floor. Unlike some ryokans or hotels, the dinner is not served in a private room. We were seated in a partitioned room that had a dining table at each corner.

Dining table at Oborozuki room in Shogetsu Grand Hotel.

Shogetsu Grand Hotel is known to serve an excellent Japanese kaiseki cuisine dishes that incorporate seasonal delicacies.

There is 2 menu options for the dinner – Golden Moon or Silver Moon. To pamper ourselves, we had selected the more expensive Golden Moon (Kin no Tsuki) Menu that is the hotel’s finest kaiseki course, upgraded with more luxurious ingredients, including fish dishes and sashimi.

We were served the aperitif and a small cup of apple juice once we were settled on the table. This aperitif called “A drop of white thread” is inspired by the Jozantei Power Plant at Shiraito Falls where the water flows down and visitors could enjoy cherry blossoms in spring.

There were cherry flower petals in the alcoholic drink.

There is even a picture of Shiraito Falls at table!

We were advised by the staff to add the apple juice after a sip to enjoy the change in taste.

Next came the appetisers. Like the aperitif, there 7 kinds based on themes related to Shogetsu, Jozankei, Sapporo and Hokkaido. The printed English menu on our table tried to explain the meaning of the elements in each appetisers based on the themes but some of the explanations were lost in translation.

They are to be eaten in the following order.

Bamboo shoots, shrimp, and seaweed chawanmushi.
Gyoza Garlic-scented lily root with white dressings.
Handmade Roast Pork Haskap with Red Wine Sauce in the blue bowl.
Shijimi tsukudani (savoury simmered fresh water clams) in the pink bowl.
Nanban pickled salmon in the yellow bowl.
Scallops, wild vegetables and vegetable jelly in the star shaped glass bowl.
Caprese salad with tomato and milk tofu in the golden moon.

Bamboo shoots, shrimp, and seaweed chawanmushi heated in table stove.

6 of the other appetisers that we ate in a clockwise direction.

After the appetisers, we were served a bowl of clear soup with black rockfish from Hokkaido.

Black Rock Fish with canola blossoms, wasabi and cherry blossom wheat.

The sashimi course was beautifully plated. We were provided with 3 kinds of sauces and recommendations on which sauce to use with each seafood. We were even provided with a small bowl containing Ohitashi (made from spinach and brown seaweed) to be used as palate cleanser.

Sashimi with three kinds of sauce . From left: Shiso leaf sauce, irizake and tosa soy sauce.

Sweet shrimp to be dipped in shiso leaf sauce.

Sea urchin with tosa soy sauce and wasabi, Chutoro (medium fatty tuna) with tosa soy sauce and wasabi, herring lime with shiso sauce, grilled amberjack with tosa soy sauce and wasabi, hokki clams with roasted sake.

The highlight of the Golden Moon Menu was the fish dish. We were served a spiny lobster in butter-scented bouillabaisse. We finished every drop of the delicious stew.

Hokkaido butter-scented bouillabaisse.

Our meal got even better after the lobster dish.

We were served ingredients for a yaki-shabu shabu that included ultra-thin, marbled slices of beef typically meant for shabu-shabu. Instead of swirling them in broth, we were to cook them quickly over a sizzling grill and then dipped them in the shabu shabu sauces.

Slices of Hokkaido beef loin, Asparagus, new onions, Japanese yam, red and yellow paprika, cod sprouts.

Cooking the shabu shabu ingredients on a hot plate.

We were given a bowl with a hot spring egg with runny yoke instead of raw egg for the dips since some foreign visitors (like us) do not appreciate dipping our cooked food in raw egg. We were also given three types of seasonings to go with the hot spring egg: onion burnt sauce, sansho kelp salt and fukinoto miso.

Sansho kelp salt in the bowl and fukinoto miso, next to the raw beef.

Burnt onion sauce.

Onsen egg with runny yoke.

I appreciate that the chef tried to let us savour various tastes and do justice to the excellent ingredients used in creating each course.

We ended the multi-course dinner with a sushi course that had 5 types of temari sushi. The word temari means “hand ball” and the small, round, bite-sized morsels of various colours looked so beautiful.

5 types of temari sushi – Tuna, salmon, Salmon Roe, Abra flounder, Conger eel.

The sushi was the last course served in the restaurant. The staff then invited us to go to the lounge on the 6th floor for special sweets, ice cream, sorbet, coffee, tea and orange juice.

The large fireplace in the middle of the lounge was lit. We sat on rocking chairs next to the large windows and helped ourselves to the desserts and sweets.

Home-made cheese cake and panna cotta with honey from the honey buffet.

Infused liquor were also served in the lounge from 7 PM to 9.30 PM. There were spirits, infused with the flavors and aromas of fruits, herbs, and spices, resulting in a vibrant and deeply flavorful beverage.

From left: Bourbon with cinamom and star anise, Vodka with lemon grass and bay leaf, Hard Liquor with rose, Hard Liquor with red kiwifruit, blueberry and strawberry.

After a few shots of the liquor, I was all ready for bed.

Morning soak in the public onsen

I woke up early to try the public onsen before breakfast while my wife was still sound asleep. She is not a fan of onsen in the early morning.

Although the hotel has 2 private onsen baths, they were not free of charge for guests. Instead of paying 3,300 JPY for 50 minutes in the private onsen, I decided to use the 4th floor public onsen. The onsen in this hotel is filled with 75°C natural hot spring water that flows continuously. At 6 AM in the morning, the sky was already bright and I was the only person in the public onsen.

There is an indoor bath as well as an outdoor bath that is down a flight of stairs. I always prefer the outdoor bath as it was nice to have view of trees and greenery. I could hear the sound of river below (but could not see it) and birds in the trees.

Semi-outdoor bath at Shogetsu Grand Hotel. Source of picture: Hotel website.

I had time for a relaxing soak before going for breakfast.

Breakfast at Shogetsu Grand

Breakfast was served from 7.30 AM in the "Oborozuki" located on the 5th floor. The breakfast is a traditional Japanese set meal served individually to each guest, plus a mini buffet with a variety of salads and drinks.

The mini buffet includes spring pork soup, 6 types of drinks, fresh green salad with various dressings, potato salad with takuan, onsen egg, and fruits.

Fresh salad, miso soup, juice and onsen egg from the mini buffet.

A three-tiered bento box and piping hot grilled fish were already placed on our dining table.

Three tier bento box.

Top layer of the bento includes includes red and white plank kama with chicken ham, sea urchin chawanmushi, wasabi kelp, tofu, stewed rapeseed flowers, natto, grilled seaweed and assortment of lightly pickled Chinese cabbage, pickled cucumber wasabi, pickled plums.

Second layer presents 4 morning dishes that are supposed to be good for the body. The dishes are Romanesco miso cheese tailoring, yellowtail and daikon radish, chicken jako and komatsuna with sesame dressing, asparagus & potato that is broth soaked.

Bottom layer contains just a small plate with sashimi of Donald salmon and wasabi.

Traditional Japanese breakfast is not complete without a grilled fish and rice. This hotel went one step further by providing a table top stove for us to warm up the Okhotsk Atka mackerel (hokke) before enjoying it with Yumepirika branded pot-cooked rice.

Heating up our grilled Okhotsk Atka mackerel (hokke) on the table-top stove.

Once again, we finished our meal at the 6th floor lounge. In addition to the coffee, tea and orange juice, there were ice-cream, strawberry pudding, and other sweets.

Shogetsu Club lounge at the 6th floor of the hotel.

It has been a while since I saw a record player with a power amp and large speakers.

We had time to explore Jozankei Onsen on foot before checking out from the hotel. The town is quite small and our hotel is centrally located.

Jozan Gensen Park

The Jozan Gensen Park is just a 3-minute walk from the hotel.

Opened in the summer of 2005 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Miizumi Jozan, the founder of Jozankei Hot Springs. In the park, there is a statue of the founder along with foot spas and places where you could boil eggs in the water of the Jozankei hot springs (Onsen Tamago Hot Springs).

Jozan Genzen Park

It was interesting to read how Jozankei Onsen was founded in 1866. Miizumi Jozan, an ascetic monk, discovered the hot springs and opened a healing spa in upper Toyohira River. Jozan cut through the forest to develop the land and put a great amount of work into bringing injured and sick people to the spa for healing. Statue of the founder, Miizumi Jozan.

Onsen Tamago Hot Springs.

Signboard showing the attractions within Jozankei Onsen. With more than 56 sources of hot spring water in the area, there are plenty of hot spring hotesl.

Jozankei Futami Park

The Jozankei Futumi Park is only a short walk away and is worth a visit. There is a statue of a Kappa, a mythical water-dwelling Japanese creature known for its mischievous nature and a water-filled dish on its head.

The Kappa Daio statue, the symbol of Jozankei Onsen.

The park is located next to the Toyohira River with a nice walking trail alongside it. This is a quiet and peaceful place with few visitors in the morning.

Stone walking path along the river.

A statue of a boy doing a handstand with only one hand.

A short trail through a forest led to a bright red suspension bridge, called the Futumi Suspension Bridge. From the center of the bridge, we could see the gorge, surrounded by cliffs and forest on both sides, with the river flowing directly beneath.

View along the river in Futumi Park.

Futumi Suspension Bridge.

View from the bridge.

Trail between the river and the bridge. We returned via the same route to our hotel.

Jozankei Onsen is a small town. We completed our walking tour of this town within an hour.

Overall, we had a wonderful stay at the Shogetsu Grand Hotel and we really enjoyed the hotel’s food and services.

On to Niseko, the next town in our road trip.

Next post: Drive from Jozankei Onsen to Niseko.

Road Trip from Asahikawa to Jozankei Onsen

2026-07-09T14:40:00.000+08:00

25 May 2026

After a heavy rain the previous night, the morning weather at Asahikawa was fine. Once again we had our breakfast at Grand Farm Buffet before checking out from JR Inn Asahikawa Hotel. Overall, we had a nice stay at this hotel with many amenities nearby and views of the railway tracks from our room.

The plan for the day was to drive from Asahikawa to Jozankei Onsen where we will stay for a night. Jozankei Onsen is a historic hot spring town nestled in the Shikotsu-Toya National Park along the Toyohira River. Located just 60 minutes south of central Sapporo, it features sodium chloride-rich therapeutic waters and is a good place to pamper ourselves with great food and onsen in a luxury hotel.

We did not take the most direct and shortest route to Jozankei Onsen as I planned to make a few stops for sight-seeing in the general direction towards Sapporo and Jozankei Onsen.

Our sightseeing stops include the following

Catbus or Nekobus - an attraction for fans of the Totoro anime.
Royce Cacao&Chocolate Town for a factory tour.
Maeda Forest Park for the wisterias.
Asari Sky Loop and Asari Dam.

Catbus or Neko-bus in Japanese

The observation deck in Totoro Pass is about 30 minutes drive from Asahikawa. Google Map location here. Located on top of a hill, we could see beautiful views of farmland and paddy fields below us.

View from Totoro Pass.

A derelict bus, sitting just 100m away from the Totoro Pass car park, is painted to mimic the Catbus from the Studio Ghibli film, “My Neighbor Totoro”, which was released in 1988. This was why we came to the pass. To see this whimsical attraction, not the view. The surrounding was quite peaceful and it was worth a short stop to snap some photos of the bus and also soak in the rural landscape. Catbus with its bus stop post and even a bus timetable on it.

Timetable that has the same schedules and destinations as it does in the movie. A bit dirty though.

A figure of Totoro painted on the door of the bus.

Royce Cacao&Chocolate Town

Our next stop was Royce Cacao&Chocolate Town located in the town of Tobetsu, about 40 minutes drive from central Sapporo.

This is the place where the famous Royce chocolates are made.

Visitors could experience the “Farm to Bar” journey from cacao cultivation on the farm to the production of Royce’ chocolates in the factory through factory tours, various exhibits and interactive experience. And of course, buy some of the products to eat or being home as gifts.

The 106 km drive to Tobetsu from Totoro Pass took about 1 hour 15 minutes via the E5 expressway (toll-road) and National Route 337. We overtook many tanker trucks on Route 337 near the town of Tobetsu. We would soon find out what these tankers were carrying. Not oil or water, but fresh cream and other ingredients for the chocolates!

Walking to the main entrance of the factory from the large visitors’ car park, we saw a beautiful garden with gazebos outside the factory. This place is famous for their rose garden in summer. There were some roses blooming in May but the garden was still not at its best.

Logo monument outside the factory with some roses plants in May.

At the ground floor of the factory is the Royce Town Factory shop that sells more than 200 kinds of chocolates and baked confections, including soft-serve ice-cream and special breads. There are also some limited edition products, sold only at this shop.

The first thing we bought was a couple of chocolate soft-serve ice-cream that is highly raved by visitors. There is a large eat-in area with tables and chairs for customers to consume the items bought at the shop.

Chocolate soft-serve ice-cream that is a must-try at the shop.

Once done with the ice-cream, we paid the admission fees for the factory tour (1200 JPY/person) and took an elevator to the third floor (3F). The tour starts from 3F and we would work our way back down to 1F.

3F has the Cacao Farm Zone and the Factory Tour Zone. In the Cacao Farm Zone, we got to experience what it would be like to visit Royce’s own cacao farm in Colombia, South America. The exhibits show cacao cultivation, harvesting and shipping.

The Cacao Farm Zone recreates the atmosphere of the ROYCE’ Cacao Farm in Colombia, South America.

Ripe pods (which range from yellow to red) must be carefully harvested by hand. We could try to hold a sample pod to feel the weight.

The pods are split open by hand to extract 30 to 50 seeds, which are coated in a sweet, sticky white pulp.

We saw how the cacao beans were fermented, then dried in the sun to get the essence of the chocolate aroma. Dried beans are then cleaned to remove twigs or debris before shipping to the factory.

Visitors could try their hand in raking the beans on a simulated drying rack in the exhibit.

It felt like an educational tour to a science museum. There are even quizzes to test how much we had learnt from the exhibits.

Moving from Cacao Farm Zone to the Factory Tour Zone, we got to experience the process of suiting up in factory attire and taking an air-shower to enter a “clean-room” environment.

We could even take a commemorative photo in this machine.

Taking an air shower to remove dust from our suited body before entering the production area.

In this area, we took a tour of an actual cacao bean processing plant. We could peek at exact bean-to-chocolate operations through glass-walled and interactive exhibits.

The chart showing what ingredients are used to make milk, white or bitter chocolates.

Interesting information on why the Nama chocolates are so smooth. Plenty of fresh cream is used.

Exiting from the Factory Tour Zone, we came to the Play Zone where most of the kids were having fun with the exhibits. There was even a section where a free chocolate pops out from the wall after we completed an activity.

We had some fun at the chocolate chips simulator. We took some photos to show the kids back home.

Walking through a chocolate curtain to be coated with chocolate.

The last section before entering the Factory Shop on the 1F is the Royce’ Collection Street. The exhibition features a valuable collection of chocolate labels and tins related with chocolate from around the world.

Collections and Art Related to Chocolate and the History of ROYCE’.

Collection of chocolate labels and tins related with chocolate from around the world.

Various packaging and labels for Royce’s Chocolates.

Visitors who take the factory tour could sign up for a Chocolate Workshop to make their own chocolate. Additional fees apply. We did not have the time nor interest to do this.

Overall, we spent about 2 hours at the factory, including time to shop for some chocolates to bring home. Royce’ chocolates are worth buying as it is about half of what it would have cost back home. We only bought a few, since we plan to buy more at Chitose Airport before leaving Hokkaido.

Before leaving, we bought some chocolate bread for our picnic lunch at Maeda Forest Park.

Maeda Forest Park

We made a stop at Maeda Forest Park since the park is one of Japan's top destinations for wisteria, with 350 trees blooming from late May to early June.

Maeda Park is only a short drive from Royce Cacao&Chocolate Town. There are several free car parks around the very large park. We chose to park near the photogenic 600-meter-long canal that perfectly aligns with Mount Teineyama, as well as its towering poplar trees on both sides. Google Map location here.

The canal and fountain at Maeda Forest Park. Unfortunately, Mount Teineyama is not fully visible in the distance.

The area by the canal seemed like a good picnic spot until we spotted some lurking crows. We decide to picnic under the trellis with the blooming wisterias instead.

It was a good choice. We could smell the fragrance from the flowers while enjoying our picnic.

Section of the 320m-long trellis of wisterias in the park.

The wisterias were not in full bloom yet but still pretty.

Chocolate bread from Royce.

Chocolate and bean paste fillings in the bread.

There is a building with an observation deck at the far end of the canal. This building has toilet facilities, vending machine and a nice view of the canal and trellis.

View from the observation deck. Wisterias are vines that produces hanging blooms that looks like a chandelier.

There are not many people in the large park on a weekday afternoon. We saw mostly elderly folks on wheelchairs and young people with pet dogs.

I loved the reflection of the poplar trees on the canal. Unfortunately, there is a slight breeze causing ripples.

I was hoping to see some ducklings in spring but there were none.

Asari Sky Loop and Dam

From Maeda Forest Park, we drove through Asari town to get to Jozankei Onsen via Prefectural Road No. 1. This route runs alongside the Asari Dam. Just below the dam lies Hokkaido's first-ever loop bridge, Asari Ohashi or Asari Sky Loop.

Asari Dam as viewed from the Sky Loop.

Driving up to the Asari Dam via the Asari Sky Loop.

There is a small car park located right next to the dam. Google Map location here. From there, we could walk onto the 390 metres long walkway right on top of the dam and get a nice view of the valley below and the Asari Sky Loop.

View of the valley below and the Asari Sky Loop.

View of Otarunai Lake from the dam.

Unlike many dams in Japan, Asari Dam does not generate hydropower. It is for flood control, river flow maintenance and water supply. By impounding the Asari River, the dam structure creates Otarunai Lake.

The dam is 73.9 metres high.

It was quite scary looking over the edge and seeing water discharging from the dam.

After the brief stop at the dam, we continued down the narrow Prefecture Road No 1 towards Jozankei Onsen. Sapporo Lake is located along the route with some observations decks. We did not stop for the views since we were running a little late.

Our hotel in Jozankei Onsen is the Shogetsu Grand Hotel. The check-in time is 3 PM and there are very nice facilities in the hotel that we could enjoy after check-in.

Next post: Pampering Ourselves in Shogetsu Grand Hotel at Jozankei Onsen.

A bit of Holland in Hokkaido

2026-07-06T21:55:12.784+08:00

24 May 2026

Our last destination for the day was at the town of Yubetsu, located about an hour’s drive from Mombetsu. Earlier in the day, we had visited Takinoue’s Shibazakura Park and Mombetsu.

The Kamiyubetsu Tulip Park is a popular tourist attraction in Yubetsu Town. Every year from early May to early June, around 700,000 tulips of nearly 200 vibrant varieties transform the park into one of Hokkaido’s most spectacular floral landscapes. Many visitors, from both Japan and overseas, come to enjoy the vibrant display during this one-month period. Even the roadside planter boxes within the town contain tulips.

From mid to late May, vivid red, yellow, pink, and purple tulips burst into bloom, creating a breathtaking tapestry of color at Kamiyubetsu Tulip Park.

We arrived at the Kamiyubetsu Tulip Park at about 3.15 PM. Entry to the park costs 500 Yen/person. In typical Japanese fashion, we had to buy the tickets from a ticket machine and show it to the staff to enter.

The Kamiyubetsu Tulip Fair opens annually on May 1.

We could see rows and rows of colourful tulips, as far as the eye could see.

In the center, there is a Dutch windmill-style observation deck overlooking the park.

Dutch windmill-style observation deck.

There are also several raised platforms at various corners, allowing visitors to get panoramic views.

We took our time to stroll through the fields, snapping plenty of photos.

Visitors could also enjoy a leisurely ride on the electric sightseeing buggy, which circles the grounds in about 18 minutes.

We saw some visitors (local Japanese) digging up tulips and bulbs to bring home, for a fee.

There are some props for the photo enthusiasts or instagrammers. A blue “Door to Nowhere” seemed a bit out of place and it was the third such doors we encountered on this trip. I must say only the pink door located in the midst of tall yellow canola flowers in the Takikawa Nanohara Festival was the most photogenic.

There are also Dutch-themed props like a giant wooden clogs and giant tulips to match the windmill that is in the center of the park.

Blue coloured “Door to Nowhere”.

Trying on the wooden clogs.

We spent slightly over an hour at the park. From Yubetsu, the 133 km drive back to Asahikawa would take about 2 hours.

A place to get some coffee before our long drive back to Asahikawa.

We actually wanted to make a brief stop at Maruseppu Fujien Park to see the wisterias that is supposed to be in bloom at this time of year but the road to the car park looks kind of dangerous. It was a narrow road through a forest, and up a steep slope. It was also getting dark so we aborted the plan with the park just 100m away.

Rainy Evening in Asahikawa

As forecasted, there was heavy rain as we approached Asahikawa. Fortunately, our hotel in Asahikawa (JR Inn Asahikawa) is located right next to Aeon Mall Asahikawa Station, so we need not go out in the rain to grab dinner.

There are many restaurants in Aeon Mall, including a large food court. We decided to have tempura for dinner at Fukutei Totoro. We ordered an assorted tempura set, a big shrimp tempura set and a grilled Atka Mackerel to share. The Atka mackerel, natively known as hokke, is an iconic wild-caught fish from the icy, nutrient-rich waters of Hokkaido. This fish is quite sweet with rich, buttery flesh and abundant omega-3s.

Big shrimp tempura set at Fukutei Totoro.

Grilled Atka Mackerel that had been dried and aged overnight.

A couple of hours in Mombetsu – a seaside town famous for its drift ice and seafood

2026-07-02T16:42:44.845+08:00

24 May 2026

After spending the morning enjoying the sights of the pink moss phlox (shibazakura) covered hillside in Takinoue, we decided to head to the coastal town of Mombetsu for lunch. Mombetsu is located about mid-way between Takinoue and Yubetsu, so it is an ideal place to stop for lunch and some sightseeing.

What to see and do in Mombetsu

Every winter, from late January to mid-March, the Sea of Okhotsk off Mombetsu is covered with pure white drift ice, creating a dynamic, frozen landscape. The massive sheets of natural ice are formed in the freezing waters of the Amur River in Siberia and then drift all the way to the coast of Hokkaido. This is a rare phenomenon seen in only a few places worldwide and tourists come all the way to this part of Hokkaido to see them.

Since we are visiting in late spring, there is no drift ice to experience but there are some attractions to consider such as the Okhotsk Tokkari Center (Seal Land), Mombetsu Port Area (a photogenic waterfront filled with unique art) and the Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum of Hokkaido.

Giant Crab Claw located near the Mombetsu Port Area.

Getting to Mombetsu

From Takinoue, we continued along National Route 273 to Mombetsu. This highway features one lane in each direction (single lane dual carriageway) and the local drivers seemed happy to go at the posted speed limit and refrain from overtaking. The 35 km journey was expected to take about 40 minutes.

From Takinoue Shibazakura Park, we tailed a small vintage BMW convertible which has also visited the park all the way to Mombetsu. This car was actually going quite fast so progress was good until we both encountered a convoy of bikers who were hogging the road at below the speed limit.

After tailing the convoy for some time, the BMW decided to speed up and overtake the whole convoy at a stretch of straight road with good visibility of oncoming traffic.

Jokingly, I told my wife that the BMW occupants must be tourists.

Since I am also a tourist, I did likewise. Thankfully, the Toyota Yaris has enough power to accelerate swiftly. We managed to overtake the whole convoy of bikers stretching about 100 meters long at one go.

Thereafter, both cars made good progress to Mombetsu. Strangely enough, both cars also went to the Marutomi Restaurant. This was one of the 3 seafood restaurants I had shortlisted and my wife chose Marutomi after reading all the reviews. Great minds think alike.

There is complimentary parking for about a dozen cars just next to the restaurant and we managed to find a space. In fact, I took the last available parking space.

Lunch at Marutomi

Entrance of the Marutomi Seafood Restaurant.

Although the town of Mombetsu seemed deserted when we drove in, the restaurant was actually full at 12.30 PM. We had to register our names and wait a short while for a table. The couple in the BMW had apparently made reservations so they disappeared into the restaurant while we were seated in the waiting area.

Our names were soon called and we were seated in a small private room. The lunch menu was mostly seafood rice bowl sets that came with miso soup and pickles.

We both ordered their signature Seafood Donburi priced at 2650 JPY. This is a luxurious rice bowl topped with Mombetsu’s finest raw seafood, including botan shrimp, salmon roe, scallops, sea bream, amberjack, and salmon.

This rice bowl is considered value for money since a single fresh and sweet botan shrimp already costs 1,000 JPY!

Every ingredient is incredibly fresh.

Mombetsu is famous for their crabs, so we also added a grilled snow crab miso side-dish. The crab miso is made from the innards of a crab. I had tried this dish for the first time at a crab restaurant in Osaka and it was unbelievably tasty.

The snow crab served grilled in a crab shell was incredibly sweet and full of umami at the same time.

The miso soup had clams and a delicious broth.

After lunch, we had just enough time to see one attraction in Mombetsu and we decided to go to the Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum of Hokkaido. The museum is located near to the Mombetsu Port Area and waterfront where we enjoyed a brief walk by the coast.

There is an observatory in the port area called Okhotsk Tower (in the background of this photo) where visitors can view the drift ice in winter. At this time of year, it is not worth visiting.

We saw gulls flying in the air and water birds on the water. At this time of year, there is no drift ice. In winter, visitors would come here to view the drift ice from the coast or board an icebreaker ship for a closer experience.

Mombetsu is also well known for all things crab and there is a giant statue of a crab claw that is about 12 meters high and 6 meters wide.

The iconic crab claw of Mombetsu located near the port area.

Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum of Hokkaido

Since we did not come at the right time to see the drift ice, the next best thing to do was to visit the Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum.

The Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum is an interactive center dedicated to the mysteries of the frozen North. There are exhibits that allow you to learn quite in depth about drift ice.

Entrance fee to the exhibition area is 700 JPY per adult and 1100 JPY if we want to include a 15 minutes video showcasing the four seasons of Okhotsk in the 4K dome theatre.

We skipped the video and spent our time enjoying the interesting exhibits. The audio and visual exhibits near the entrance are about drift ice and how they are formed. Although there are some English texts in the explanations, we used Google Translate to translate the Japanese texts to get more information.

Some of the exhibits are quite interactive, like those in a science center. In one of the exhibits, we could witness how a tornado is formed. This is not directly related to drift ice but I enjoyed playing with the “tornado” in the booth.

Have you ever touch a tornado and see what happens?

Model of an icebreaker ship.

The museum also hosts Japan’s largest collection of cliones, the mysterious "Sea Angels." These plankton-like critters are tiny, translucent, shell-less marine snails that appear in the icy drift ice of the Sea of Okhotsk every winter.

Tank full of swimming cliones or sea angels allowed us to get a close-up look.

Looking at them, we could see why they are nicknamed Sea Angels. They appeared to be flying through the water using their graceful, wing-like appendages.

The sea angels are extremely small (about 1 to 3 cm) and completely transparent, except for their bright orange internal organs.

These “angels” are actually predatory in nature. We watched a video showing the carnivorous sea angels hunting and feeding on smaller sea snails called sea butterflies. They are not so angelic after all.

There are also exhibits where we could see ice crystal being formed under super cooled conditions.

The highlight of the museum is the "Extreme Cold Experience Room," kept at a biting -20°C. Here, we could experience what it feels like to be in Mombetsu during mid-winter. Winter jackets are provided to us before we entered the cold room.

Steps leading down to the –20 deg C room. The writing is on the floor, reminding us of that.

Inside the room, we could see some authentic drift ice on display and we could feel the incredible chill. There are stuffed Artic animals like a seal and a polar bear on display.

A staff offered to help us snap a photo with some of the artic animals, including a stuffed polar bear.

We then entered a room known as the Drift Ice Aquarium that is full of fish from the Okhotsk Sea on display.

Signage near the entrance to Drift Ice Aquarium. These fishes are all frozen in ice blocks!

Despite the frozen hands and ears, I took my time to view and snap photos of the interesting specimens of fishes, squids, crabs, shellfishes and even plants, encased and preserved in crystal clear ice.

There is even a sunfish in the ice aquarium.

The -20°C extreme cold experience room also has an area for us to witness what happens to soap bubbles at such cold environment. I recall some jokes about “eskimos peeing ice cubes” and it feels like this is not a joke.

Machine generating soap bubbles.

Frozen soap bubbles in the carpet. The frozen bubbles looked like plastic and melts once we touched them.

We were the only couple in the cold room and the friendly staff kept a watchful eye on us (via CCTV) to make sure we did not end up as an exhibit.

Overall, my wife and I totally enjoyed the hour we spent inside the museum. It was definitely worth doing something that we don't normally get to experience. A highly recommended museum to visit when in northern Hokkaido.

Another stuff polar bear at the atrium and gift shop of the museum.

Hill of Pink at Takinoue Shibazakura Koen Park

2026-06-29T23:30:32.098+08:00

24 May 2026

The plan for Day 2 of our Hokkaido road trip is to enjoy the flowers that bloom in late May, particularly in the northern part of the island. From Asahikawa, we planned a 311 km drive that will bring us to Takinoue for the Shibazakura (pink moss phlox), Mombetsu for lunch and sightseeing and then Yubetsu for the tulips before returning to Asahikawa.

The absolute best time to visit Shibazakura Takinoue Park is from mid-to-late May, when the 10-hectare hillside is in full bloom and blanketed in vibrant, sweet-scented pink moss phlox.

Because of the expected long driving time, we had an early start. In May, the sun rises at about 4 AM so it was not too difficult to wake up early for breakfast. Buffet breakfast was provided by JR Inn Hotel at Grand Farm Buffet, located on the 4th floor of Aeon Mall. Menu includes fresh salad bar, miso soup, pasta, pizza, some sushi, and a dessert station

The food was average only and the only highlight for me was the soup curry despite the very basic ingredients of canned cocktail sausages, baby corns, carrots and okra. The buffet also had a DIY chirashi rice bowl but I stayed clear of sashimi to avoid risk of stomach upsets on a long drive.

Breakfast at Grand Farm Buffet located at Aeon Mall, Asahikawa.

We hit the road at 8 AM sharp and the drive to Takinoue was quite nice once we leave the city area. I chose the route that avoided the toll roads and surprisingly part of E39 expressway was toll-free and quite scenic too.

View of the mountains on E39 on our drive to Takinoue from Asahikawa.

When we arrived at Takinoue Shibazakura Koen Park, there were road marshals directing us to park at a secondary car park. From there, we purchased the entrance ticket (500 JPY/person) and took the shuttle bus to the hillside park.

Alighting from the bus at the large car park next to the park, I noticed that I could actually have ignored the road marshals and drive straight up to the car park (which other cars did!).

First view of the pink moss phlox or shibazakura covering the entire hillside.

I was glad the weather on this day was warm and sunny, with clear blue sky that contrast with the pink colours that filled our vision.

Mandatory selfie with the hill of pink.

There are staffs stationed at the park to help with photos if needed.

We took time to explore the gentle hillside filled with a breathtaking landscape of white, pink and purple flowers. This vibrant moss phlox carpet captivates all who visit, marking the arrival of spring in Hokkaido.

There are many paths in which to wander around the hillside and get some photos.

It is hard to imagine that this park was once famous for its cherry blossoms. In 1954, a typhoon destroyed most of the trees. A few years later, the manager of the local park, inspired by moss phlox growing at a nearby temple, brought back a single box of seedlings and planted them at the entrance to the park. The flowers are hardy and could not be killed by insects or typhoons.

Over the decades, dedicated locals and townspeople expanded the planting, transforming the hillside into a stunning 100,000-square-meter vibrant pink floral carpet that is now one of Japan's largest. Visitors come from all over the world to enjoy the fruits (should be flowers!) of their labour.

As we explored the hillside, we took time to look for a lucky flower. The moss phlox flowers usually have 5 petals but if we are lucky or extremely lucky, we could spot a flower with 4, 6 or 7 petals.

This sign was originally in Japanese. Translated using Google Translate.

Searching for a lucky flower.

She spotted a 6 petal flower!

Taking a rest of one of the benches.There was not much shade on this warm sunny day.

We encountered another “Door to Nowhere” at this park.

This was not as photogenic as the one at Takikawa Nanohara Festival.

Ringing the "Bell of Happiness" (幸せの鐘) located at the very top of the hill.

During the peak bloom, the Takinoue Shibazakura Festival brings even more excitement. There are food stalls, band performance and even an armoured vehicle on display.

Heading down to the festival event area after exploring the whole hillside.

Takinoue Shibazakura Festival at the park that takes place from early May to early June.

Enjoying a flower flavoured pink soft serve ice-cream before leaving.

It was about 11.45 AM when we returned to our car via the shuttle bus. From there, we took a slow drive to the seaside town of Mombetsu.

Exploring Biei countryside by car and evening in Asahikawa

2026-06-26T22:29:00.000+08:00

23 May 2026

Biei is famous for its beautiful natural scenery created by vast rolling, flower-covered farmlands, with the magnificent Tokachi Mountain Range as a backdrop.

In spring, the flowers in the fields are newly planted and not fully in bloom so the typical attractions like Farm Tomita, Shikisai no Oka and Zerubu Hill could be skipped. I had also visited attractions like Farm Tomita, Farm Chiyoda, Shirogane Blue Pond, and the cascading Shirahige Falls in my previous trip in August 2023.

So on this road trip, I would focus on sights that I missed. This includes a drive down Panorama Road, Roller Coaster Road and also seeing the famous trees around the Biei countryside, like the Ken & Mary Tree, the Seven Stars Tree, and the majestic Christmas Tree.

Panorama Road

After enjoying the vast yellow canola fields in Takikawa, we drove to what is known as the Panorama Road near Kamifurano. The journey to the starting point of Panorama Road (Google Map location here) took slightly over an hour through scenic country roads.

A marker on the roadside marks the beginning of the Panorama Road.

I had actually driven on this stretch of road on my previous trip but it was in the opposite direction! Hence, it was not as “panoramic” as it should be.

The best views are seen when driving in the southern-east direction where we could see vast farmlands with the Tokachi Mountain Range in the back. In spring, the mountains were still snow-covered at the top and it was a beautiful sight.

Start of the Panorama Road with the Tokachi Mountain Range in the background.

We actually saw a volcano with a plume cloud of steam and gases. The local residents would not be thrilled or excited by the sight of an active volcanic spewing gases and steam. For me, this was still a fascinating experience although I had seen similar sights while visiting Kyushu, namely Mount Aso and Sakurajima.

Mount Tokachi (Tokachidake), a highly active volcano, spewing gases.

The drive down Panorama Road was really scenic. I was glad to chance upon a farmer’s truck laden with rice seedlings. Late spring is the rice planting season and we could see the water logged paddy fields with freshly planted rice seedlings.

Rice seedlings on a farmer’s truck along Panorama Road.

Vast farmlands on both sides of the road and the Tokachi Mountain Range in the background.

Roller Coaster Road

From Panorama Road, we drove a short distance to "Nishi 11sen Doro" or what is known as the Roller Coaster Road. Google Map Location here.

This long and straight stretch of road, approximately 4.5 kilometers long, features steep ascents and descents like a roller coaster. The road is potentially hazardous with the steep ascents and descents over the hills limiting visibility, and the chance of encountering some crazy drivers trying to experience the G-forces of a roller coaster.

Marker at the middle part of the Roller Coaster Road. We did not make a stop here as parking is limited.

We drove down the entire stretch of the scenic road but did not stop. My wife took a video of the drive from the windscreen of the car.

Roller Coaster Road. The entire road resembles a roller coaster track, stretching up and down across Biei's countryside.

Biei Christmas Tree

The first of the famous trees in Biei we saw was the Christmas Tree. There are no designated parking spaces near the tree. Fortunately, there was no other car around. We just stopped by the roadside and took some quick photos of this famous lone pine.

Biei’s famous Christmas Tree, standing all alone, on an empty piece of freshly ploughed farmland.

I must say, this single pine tree is surprisingly photogenic.

Oka No Sanpo Michi

We were actually going to Hokusei-no-oka Observatory Park when we saw Oka No Sanpo Michi, an ice cream shop set in a farm.

This is a very nice place to stop for coffee and ice-cream. The surrounding area was so peaceful and scenic and the coffee and ice-cream were delicious. Perfect for a pit-stop after so much driving around Biei.

The shop is located in a farm, so there was plenty of green grass, wild flowers, farms and views of the mountain ranges.

Views of Mount Tokachi, the active volcano.

There are also some baby farm animals to interact with. A farmer brought out her kids (as in baby goats!) to us to have a closer look.

Foal of a miniature horse at Oka No Sanpo Michi.

Hokusei-no-oka Observatory Park

By the time we arrived at Hokusei-no-oka Observatory, it was about 4.40 PM. We were the only car in the large parking lot located at the top. There is a pyramid shape lookout structure but there was no need to go there.

Pyramid Observation Deck in the back. We did not climb up to the observation deck.

We could already have great views across Biei and the valley to the Tokachi Mountain Range. I think the views of the flower fields from here would be nice in summer.

Useful signboard to help us identify which mountain was the active volcano. It was Tokachidake.

Interesting building selling coffee and snacks but it was closed.

Ken and Mary Tree, Seven Star Tree and Parent and Child Tree

Sunset time in Biei on this day is about 7 PM. When on a road trip, I made it a point to avoid driving on country roads after dark for safety reasons. We had some time left to see a few more of Biei’s famous trees. They were all located quite close by.

There are ample parking spaces near the Ken and Mary Tree and also the Seven Stars Tree. After we parked our car, a tour bus rolled in and unloaded a large group of tourists. It is amazing how trees in the Biei countryside could become a tourist attraction.

The trees, on their own merits, are nothing great to see. It is the surrounding Biei countryside that is the star. For example, the freshly ploughed land, with the lines on them, is quite photogenic. The views in summer, with colourful flowers, or in winter, with snow covered landscape, would have been even nicer.

Ken and Mary Tree - Tall & solitary poplar tree, known for its appearance in a 1970s Nissan commercial.

The Biei farmland is actually the star of the show Not the famous trees. The views at any seasons are quite nice.

Seven Stars Tree – an Iconic oak tree once depicted on packaging for a popular brand of Japanese tobacco.

A tractor rolled by and the farmer must be wondering what is all the fuss over some trees.

Like the Biei’s Christmas Tree, the Parent and Child Trees are actually quite good subjects to photograph. There are three trees, two large and one small, side by side, right at the top of a hill.

Parent and Child Trees. I like the simple “standalone” look with no other trees on the horizon.

There are no proper parking spaces near the trees and the trees are on private land. That does not matter since the best compositions for a nice photo are actually from afar. I just snap photos of them silhouetted with the blue grey sky from the roadside.

It was already slightly past 5 PM when we left Biei for Asahikawa. The drive to Asahikawa took about 30 minutes and we arrived at JR Inn Asahikawa before dark.

Evening at Asahikawa

JR Inn Asahikawa is located on top of the Asahikawa JR Station and also next to Aeon Mall Asahikawa Station.

After checking in, we went for dinner at Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, located near Asahikawa JR Station. While Asahikawa is traditionally known for soy sauce (shoyu) ramen, Santouka made its name by doing things differently.

This restaurant is famous for its signature mild, pork-bone shio (salt) ramen topped with a single pickled plum (ume).

Shio Ramen with added onsen egg on top of the standard kikurage (wood ear mushrooms), menma (bamboo shoots), negi (spring onions), naruto (fish cake), chashu pork slices, and ume.

We also had gyozas which are pretty good too.

After a satisfying dinner, we bought some drinks and snacks for our road trip from a 7-11 shop and also took a walk around Aeon Mall.

There is a nice pet store (Pet Life) featuring very cute puppies and kittens and a supermarket at the basement where we bought more local snacks.

Enjoying Canola Flower Fields at Takikawa Nanohana Festival 2026

2026-06-24T22:11:04.004+08:00

23 May 2026

Visiting Hokkaido in the last week of May meant that we missed seeing the cherry blossoms that blooms every spring in late April and early May. However, Hokkaido features many other flowers that are best viewed in late May and early June.

One such flower is the canola. The canola flower fields of Takikawa City boast one of the largest cultivation areas in Japan. From mid-May to early June, these blooming flowers stretch to the very edge of the horizon and filling our field of vision with brilliant yellow color. These are sights that city dwellers like me dream of seeing.

I had read that access to the flower fields in Takikawa is prohibited to protect farmers' livelihoods, prevent the spread of soil pathogens, and avoid accidental property damage. So, we could only view the flower fields from the windows of our cars because the narrow country roads do not have parking lots near the canola flower fields.

This is a bummer! However, there is a way to get up close to the flower fields, which is during the annual Nanohana Festival.

Takikawa Nanohana Festival 2026

The Takikawa Nanohana Festival started back in 2000 and has become the city's largest annual event, with crowds of around 100,000 people longing to appreciate the beauty of these vibrant yellow flowers.

The Takikawa Nanohana Festival for 2026 will be held from May 16 to May 24 (10 AM to 4 PM) which is during the best viewing period. During weekends, visitors to the festival are granted rare access to a specific canola flower field that is selected for the event. This would provide visitors with a magical experience of being surrounded 360 degrees by yellow flowers.

Our day of arrival to Hokkaido on May 23, 2026 was on the last Saturday of the festival. This offered us an opportunity that we just could not miss.

Getting to the Takikawa Nanohana Festival

The 2026 festival is located at the Michi-no-Eki (Roadside Rest Area) Takikawa for this year and also in the preceding years. Google Map location here. The nearest JR train station is Ebeotsu Station and there are shuttle buses linking the station to the event venue during the festival.

Since we are on a road trip, we will be going by rental car.

We collected our rental car from the Toyota Rent-a-Car office located next to Chitose International Airport at about 10 AM. From there, it was a 110 km drive to Takikawa via a combination of scenic rural roads, national routes and E5 expressway (toll-road) that took slightly over 1.5 hours.

Takikawa Nanohana Festival Event Area

Michi-no-Eki Takikawa transforms into an event area during the festival. There are ample parking spaces to cater to the visitors.

Takikawa Nanohana Festival Event Area

By the time we arrived, the event venue was already quite packed with both Japanese and foreign tourists, all keen to experience Hokkaido’s special flower fields.

We went to the temporary tourist information booth to get Canola Flower Festival information and pamphlet. In particular, we need to find out how to get to the Canola Flower Field Special Venue to see the flower fields.

There is a Gourmet Fiesta with stalls selling food, snacks and local products, including canola based products. The food stalls offers food like grilled meat, noodles (udon and ramen), rice bowls, gyoza and desserts.

There is also a Kitchencar Festival featuring some of the best local food trucks selling delicious looking food.

We were feeling a bit hungry and tired from our overnight flight and morning drive, so the first things we did was to grab something to eat before heading out to the flower fields.

Make-shift benches and chairs were laid out across a lawn to provide a nice area for a picnic.

We ate a one-hand pizza from a food truck that is quite good.

This Zangi (Hokkaido’s signature fried chicken) was super good. Crispy skin on the outside and moist chicken inside.

Getting to the Canola Flower Field Special Venue

Visitors to the Canola Flower Field Special Venue, has to take a Flower Bus (1000 yen which includes the 500 Yen admission to the flower field). This event bus only operates on weekends.

Note: There is also Canola Flower Taxi (fare required) operating out of Roadside Rest Area Takikawa to the site which cost 1000 yen per person but do not include the admission to the flower fields. After departing from Roadside Rest Area Takikawa, taxis will drive through the most beautiful flower fields on that given day and also stop by the Canola Flower Field Special Venue on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the festival period.

We bought the tickets for the bus and were given yellow-coloured identification wrist tags. The bus operates every 15 minutes but was packed like sardines when we took it. Fortunately we queued early for the bus and got seats for the 10 minutes ride.

Booth selling the shuttle bus tickets that runs between Roadside Rest Area Takikawa and the Canola Flower Field Special Venue.

First view of the expansive yellow canola flower fields from the bus.

What are canolas cultivated for?

I am familiar with canola oil as I used bottles of them for cooking. Canola oil is not extracted directly from the flowers, but rather from the tiny black seeds that develop inside the pods left behind after the canola flowers bloom. In Takikawa, local farmers harvest these seeds and use traditional, natural pressing methods to produce high-quality cooking oils. The resulting "nanohana oil" is prized for its fresh, slightly nutty flavor and is celebrated at the annual Takikawa Canola Flower Festival.

There are two main types of nanohana cultivated in Takikawa – the Kizaki no Natane variety which is primarily used to make rapeseed oil, and the Haru no Kagayaki variety which is typically used as a food source.

Walking amongst the Canola Flowers!

Once we alighted from the bus, we were provided with plastic shoe covers that are to be worn over our shoes. This is to prevent the spread of pathogens onto the fields.

Then we are free to wander onto the fields!

It was a sight to behold. It was mesmerising feeling, to stand amongst the blooms and watching the wind ripple through fields of flowers.

There were props set up deliberately to satisfy the instagrammers and photographers. This included a haystack and a pink coloured “door-to- nowhere”. I found out later that this pink wooden door is related to the Doraemon franchise. In the manga and anime, the pink coloued “Anywhere Door” serves as a portal that allows users to instantly travel to any location they desire by stating their destination before stepping through it.

There was even a classic straw broomstick with a small black cat (Studio Ghibli's character Kiki), for visitors to recreate the flying witch look made famous by the anime Kiki's Delivery Service.

Friendly staffs were stationed near each prop to help visitors to take couple or group photos when needed.

The “Anywhere Door”. The first of many that we would see during this trip.

Haystack prop that is specially brought onto the site for photographers.

The “star” of the event. Not the couple but the vast yellow flower fields behind us.

We all have some little “souvenirs” after venturing onto the fields.

Pollen grains!

Our clothes were coated with tiny specks of the yellow dust. Fortunately, they were easy to brush off and did not stain our dark coloured clothes.

Overall, it had been an amazing experience participating in the Takikawa Nanohana Festival. A good start to our 10 day road trip.

Trip overview – 6 days in Da Nang with friends

2026-05-18T22:36:13.773+08:00

My wife and I were glad to join our old school mates for a trip to Da Nang and also Hoi An without having to do much planning ourselves. This is because one of the couple has relatives living in Da Nang and hence had visited Da Nang and Hoi An many times. So they volunteered to plan the itinerary for our trip. They also help to buy the tickets to Ba Na Hills, and arranged private vehicles with local drivers to ferry us around on some days. They even managed to secure some discounts for our stay at New World Hoiana Hotel in Hoi An.

We chose to go in March since March in Da Nang features pleasant, dry spring weather, making it one of the best times to visit. March is supposed to be the dry season but the weather forecasted was rain almost everyday during our stay. Fortunately, the rain in South East Asia is heavy but short in duration.

Getting to Da Nang

We travelled to Da Nang from Singapore via Vietjet Air. One key reason for choosing this airline was that Vietjet Air is not operating the dreaded Boeing 737-800 Max on this route. This was the first time we had tried this budget airline and all was good. The only letdown was that Vietjet did not use the aero-bridge when we arrived at Da Nang International Airport.

Disembarking from our plane at Da Nang International Airport.

Our hotels in Hoi An and Da Nang

We stayed at the New World Hoiana Hotel for the first 2 days. This hotel is one of the 4 hotels within the Hoiana Integrated Resort located by the coast near Hoi An. We enjoyed the facilities of this luxury Integrated Resort and used it as a base to explore the Hoi An area.

Casino at the Hoiana Integration Resort.

More details of our stay at this resort are described below:

Trip report: Our Stay at New World Hoiana Hotel in Hoi An.

After Hoi An, we returned to Da Nang and stayed at the Crowne Plaza Danang City Centre by IHG. We chose to stay near the city centre for easy access to shopping, restaurants and this hotel is close to the Han River, Han Market and Dragon Bridge.

View from my room at Crowne Plaza Danang City Centre Hotel.

This was how we spent our 6 days in Da Nang and Hoi An.

Day 1 (5 March 2026) – Arrival and travel to Hoi An

Our direct flight from Singapore to Da Nang took about 3 hours. We arrived as scheduled at about 1 PM.

Our private van with driver picked us from the airport and brought us to Da Nang for lunch at An Thoi Restaurant. Our friends, who organised this trip, had dined at this restaurant before and told us this is a must-try restaurant when in Da Nang.

The restaurant serves authentic Vietnamese cuisine like Banh Xeo, various kinds of Vietnamese Spring Rolls, White Rose Dumplings, and seafood.

Trip report: Lunch at An Thoi Restaurant in Da Nang

After lunch, we proceeded to Hoi An. The drive from Da Nang to our hotel took about 1 hour. After check-in, we spent some time enjoying the facilities at the Hoiana Integrated Resort before having our dinner in Hoi An Ancient Town.

Dinner at Morning Glory Signature Restaurant in Hoi An

Hoi An Ancient Town is beautifully lit at night and we had time to enjoy a walk by the riverside after dinner.

The iconic Japanese Covered Bridge at the Ancient Town.

Trip report: Dinner at Morning Glory Restaurant in Hoi An

Day 2 (6 March 2026) – Coconut Boat Tour and Hoi An Ancient Town

After breakfast in the hotel, we went to check out the private beach. We had the whole beach to ourselves.

Private beach at Hoiana Integrated Resort.

It was late morning when we travelled by private van to the Bay Mau Coconut Forest area. We did the Coconut Boat Tour in Hoi An in the late morning. This is one of Hoi An’s popular tourist activities.

We rode the iconic Vietnamese basket boat through serene waterways and coconut forest.

Trip report: Experiencing the Coconut Boat Tour in Hoi An

After our adventure riding the coconut boat, we proceed to Hoi An Ancient Town.

We had lunch at Madam Khanh (one of the best Banh Mi restaurants in town) and dessert at a roadside stall.

Madam Khanh’s banh mi – amongst the best.

Thereafter we spent the afternoon and evening exploring the old town.

Enjoy our drinks at the Cafe Street or Trần Phú Street in the old town.

The spa in Hoi An is quite affordable and having a foot massage is a good activity to do at the end of the day.

We enjoyed local cuisine at the MẸT Vietnamese Restaurant & Vegetarian Food located by the riverside.

Cao Lau, a noodle that can only be made in Hoi An.

Many visitors enjoying boat rides on the Hoai River that flow through the old town at night.

The Hoi An Ancient Town is especially beautiful at night, when lanterns are lit all over.

Trip report: Afternoon and Evening in Hoi An Ancient Town.

Day 3 (7 March 2026) – Travel from Hoi An to Da Nang. Shopping, Seafood dinner and see the Dragon Bridge.

We travelled by chartered van from Hoi An to Da Nang in the morning.

After check-in, we had time to explore Da Nang city for the rest of the day by ourselves. We spend some time shopping for local products at Vincom Plaza before enjoying dinner at Moc Quan Seafood. Da Nang is an excellent place to enjoy a value-for-money seafood feast and one of the best seafood restaurants in town was MỘC Quán Seafood.

Must eat the seafood at Da Nang.

We took the opportunity to celebrate a birthday at Moc Quan Seafood.

At night, we went to see the Dragon Bridge and enjoyed the fire and water show that takes place at 9 PM every weekend.

Da Nang’s Dragon Bridge that breathes fire and spew water every weekend at 9 PM.

We also had time to check out the Son Tra Night Market, located next to the Dragon’s head.

Trip report: Exploring Da Nang – Shopping at Vincom Plaza, Dinner at Moc Quan and fire and water show at Dragon Bridge.

Day 5 (8 March 2026) – Shopping and Sightseeing in Da Nang

This is the day to explore Da Nang city on foot and by taxis. We planned to do more shopping and sightseeing on this day. Plus, enjoying the good food that this vibrant Vietnamese city has to offer.

After breakfast at Banh Mi Co Tien, we did shopping at Han Market, one of the largest traditional markets in Da Nang with lots of things to buy.

Entrance to Han Market.

We had lunch at An Thoi Restaurant (again). This restaurant is located next to Han Market.

After lunch, we visited the Ling Unh Pagoda located in Son Tra Peninsula and My Khe Beach by taxi.

Linh Ung Pagoda is a famous spiritual site in Da Nang. The most important and visible highlight of the Linh Ung pagoda is the statue of Lady Buddha.

Impressive statue of the Lady Buddha or Guan Yin at the Ling Unh Pagoda.

My Khe Beach is located on the east of Da Nang City and it made sense to see this beach after our visit to the Son Tra Peninsula.

Enjoying a stroll at My Khe Beach.

We had more of Da Nang’s cheap and good seafood for dinner at a restaurant near My Khe Beach.

Trip report: Exploring Da Nang – Shopping, Sightseeing and Good Food.

Day 6 (9 March 2026) – Day trip to Ba Na Hills

Ba Na Hills is a popular tourist destination in Vietnam featuring a replica of a France medieval town with beautiful flower gardens and the famous Golden Bridge.

The Golden Bridge has two giant hands holding the walkway and is one of Da Nang’s most famous attractions.

As it is an extremely popular attraction, we chose a weekday to visit Ba Na Hills so as to avoid the massive crowds on weekends.

Ba Na Hills is located 1,487 meters up in the Da Nang mountains and about 25 kilometres from Da Nang city center. We booked a private van with local driver for our daytrip to Ba Na Hills.

There was a Tulip Festival when we visited.

Trip report: Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge

We ended the day with Korean BBQ dinner back at Da Nang city.

Trip report: Korean BBQ in Da Nang

Day 7 (10 March 2026) – Free and easy morning before leaving

We had a nice breakfast at Bun Cha Ca 109 and coffee at La Bicicleta before leaving Da Nang.

Bún chả cá 109 is actually a Michelin Bib Gourmand awarded restaurant and only serves Bun Cha Ca(Vietnamese Fishcake Noodle Soup), their house specialty.

Bun Cha Ca with a mixture of fish cake, crab cake and crab paste.

Trip report: Morning at Da Nang City.

Lunch at An Thoi Restaurant in Da Nang

2026-05-14T09:13:00.000+08:00

5 March 2026

We had our first taste of authentic Vietnamese food in an excellent restaurant in downtown Da Nang right after our arrival by Vietjet Air from Singapore. Our friends, who organised this trip, had dined at this restaurant before and told us this is a must-try restaurant when in Da Nang.

An Thoi is a two-storey restaurant in a shop-house with a blue and yellow façade. The restaurant is situated in the Old Town area, overlooking the Han River. Google Map Location here.

Due to its popularity, this Michelin Bib Gourmand awarded restaurant is always busy. Be prepared to wait, as they do not accept reservations

Even though we arrived at 2.30 PM, past the peak lunch time hours, there was a queue at the entrance.

8 hungry souls waiting for a table outside An Thoi Restaurant.

The queue is orderly and systematic. The highly trained, customer oriented staff will give a ticket with your queue number and update the queuing status on a flipchart.

Simple but effective queue tracking system.

Plastic chairs and large umbrellas made the wait more comfortable. The staff even offered complimentary bottles of cold water to those in the queue.

Since we came during non-peak dining hours, we only waited for about 20 minutes. It could be up to 1 hour during peak time. However, my friend who recommended this restaurant assured us it was well worth the wait! Let’s see.

We were seated upstairs, on a long table for our group of 8. The interiors were nicely decorated and air-conditioned. Artificial windows on the wall together with artificial plants and bamboo-weaved lanterns hanging from the ceilings gave an al-fresco dining vibes.

The An Thoi menu features a wonderful selection of local Vietnamese cuisine, including seafood. It was good that we were a fairly large group and could order a variety of cuisine to share.

These were what we ordered:

8 pieces of grilled oysters with scallions and peanuts for 139,000 VND.

8 pieces of grilled scallops with cheese for 175,000 VND. 4 pieces had been taken by the time the plate came to me for the photo!

2 x Banh Xeo or crispy Vietnamese pancakes with rice paper, sliced mangos, herbs and dipping sauces. The savory pancake was filled with shrimps, pork, and bean sprouts

How to eat the Banh Xeo:

Place the lettuce on a sheet of dry or slightly damp rice paper.
Add fresh herbs like the sliced mango, bean sprouts,
Add a piece of the hot, crispy pancake on top of the lettuce.
Roll the rice paper into a tight cylinder. Dip the roll into the sauce before eating.

The lazy ones could just take a piece of the pancake, add the herbs and veggies onto the plate with the pancake, mix a little of the dipping sauce and eat it like that.

Goi Cuon or Vietnamese spring rolls with dipping sauce for 115,000 VND.

Cha Gio or Vietnamese fried spring rolls for 135,000 VND.

Banh Hoa Hong Trang or Hoi An White Rose Dumplings for 109,000 VND. These steamed, translucent dumplings shaped to look like rose petals are filled with savory minced shrimp and pork, topped with crispy shallots, and served with a special dipping sauce.

2 x Pineapple seafood fried rice for 129,000 VND. The rice is served in a half pineapple. The friendly and “ever-happy-to-serve” staff even cut the pineapple into cubes for our dessert after our meal.

We also had a pomelo salad for 165,000 VND which were devoured by the hungry souls before I could I get a photo!

For drinks, the gents in the group had the local Vietnamese beer. They were really cheap but not that good. The ladies had the fresh coconuts which were cheap and good. Fresh coconut imprinted with the restaurant’s logo.

The staff split the coconuts for us and provided spoons to scrap the white fleshy parts inside.

All of the dishes we tried at An Thoi were delicious and we all agreed that we should eat here again. There is so much more in the menu that we had not tried.

Entrance to the Han Market.

The restaurant is conveniently located next to the Han Market, so those who like shopping can couple a visit to this excellent restaurant with a visit to the market that offers a large range of high quality but faked branded goods.

Alternatively, go take a walk along the promenade by the Han River in front of the restaurant.

Sculptures decorate the waterside by the Han River.

We did not have time to do the above or explore Da Nang on this day. After lunch, we made an hour long journey to Hoi An, where we would stay for the next 2 nights.

But we will be back!

Our Stay at New World Hoiana Hotel in Hoi An

2026-05-13T15:44:00.000+08:00

5 and 6 March 2026

A visit to Da Nang must include a few nights stay at Hoi An, located approximately 25 to 30 kilometers southeast of Da Nang city center. Hoi An is an old trading port in Southern Vietnam, with well-preserved buildings that reflects both indigenous and foreign cultures, especially Chinese, Japanese and later European. The famed UNESCO World Heritage ancient town features exceptionally preserved 15th-century buildings, lantern-lit streets at night, unique local cuisine, interesting cafes and riverside shops.

In my previous visit to Hoi An, I stayed 4 nights in a boutique guesthouse within walking distance to the ancient town. In this trip with my friends, we stayed two nights in the more luxurious Hoiana Integrated Resort set on a secluded stretch of Vietnam’s central coast just south of the Hoi An's Cua Dai estuary.

Hoiana opened in 2020 as a world-class integrated resort featuring championship golf, luxury accommodations, and state-of-the-art entertainment facilities.

The integrated resort consists of several hotels:

Hoiana Hotel & Suites

New World Hoiana Beach Resort
New World Hoiana Hotel
Hoiana Residences

We stayed at New World Hoiana Hotel but could use the facilities within the integrated resort. There is free buggy service so travelling within the integrated resort was pretty convenient. Most times, we chose to walk between the hotels and the beach.

Layout of Hoiana Integrated Resort in Hoi An.

Getting there from Da Nang

It took us about an hour’s drive to get to Hoiana from Da Nang city center. Although the distance is less than 30 km, the speed limit on the single lane coastal road is low and the driver of our chartered van was careful.

Once there, checking in was fast. Our luggage was handled by the hotel staff and brought to our rooms.

Spacious lobby in New World Hoiana Hotel.

View of the swimming pool and restaurant where we had our breakfast as viewed from the lobby.

Nicely lit at night.

Decent sized and well appointed rooms in this luxury hotel.

View from my room. The hotel is quite isolated. Guests had to dine within the hotel’s many restaurants or take a short trip to the ancient town.

Casino

One of the highlights of staying in Hoiana is their casino. Actually not for me but my travelling companions loves visiting casinos at Genting Highlands in Malaysia. So the first thing we did was to take a short walk to the casino, located in Hoiana Hotel & Suites.

The casino is located at the Hoiana Hotel & Suites.

To enter the casino, we had to sign up as a member. There was a promotion for new sign ups during the month of March.

We are to choose one of the following freebies for new members.

We were each issued a personal membership card that is used to pass through the gantry at the entrance of the casino. This card is also used as a cash card at the slot machines. Each card was also loaded with free USD20 credit that we had chosen.

In my previous visit to Macao (another place with plenty of casinos), we stayed clear of the casinos due to cigarette smoke. On this visit, there was only slight smell of cigarette smoke as the casino was not very crowded when we visited. The interior of this casino was quite nice with crystal chandeliers, many gaming tables and more than 200 slot machines.

We used the credits to introduce ourselves to playing the slot machines and roulette. Free flow of drinks and beer are provided for the players at the slot machines and tables.

We did not spend too much time in casino as we planned to go to the Hoi An ancient town for dinner in the evening although there are some nice and probably pricey restaurants in the resort.

One of the fancy restaurants in the resort.

Breakfast and morning at the beach.

Our stay at Hoiana included daily buffet breakfast at Aroma Restaurant, an all-day dining restaurant located on the ground floor of the New World Hoiana Hotel. The buffet spread is good, including pho at the noodle station and pastries. The highlight for me was the classic butter croissants in the pastries section.

It was raining while we had breakfast on the first morning but fortunately the rain stopped by 10.30AM and we could take a walk to the resort’s private beach.

There was no one there at the beach, except us and a lifeguard stationed on the beach. A red flag fluttering on the flagpole warned that sea activity and swimming is not allowed.

The friendly and probably very bored lifeguard offered to help us take photos. He did a great job, recommending the best shots and best pose for us.

The Edge – infinity pool and bar

Another recommended place to visit within the resort is the infinity pool and bar located on the 16th floor of the Hoiana Hotel & Suites. We could enjoy the sea breeze and excellent views of the coast. This is a good place to chill till it was time for our next activity.

Hoiana Hotel & Suites as seen from the beach.

View from the 16th floor of Hoiana Hotel & Suites.

Chilling on the swings and nest chairs until it is time to go for our coconut boat ride and visit to Hoi An ancient town.

Swinging nest chairs.

Infinity Pool. It started raining again when we left.

Coconut Boat Ride

One of Hoi An’s popular tourist activities is to the coconut boat tour and there are many operators offering this activity in the Bay Mau area, just north of the Cua Dai Estuary and 5 minutes drive away by private van from our hotel.

I will describe more about our adventures on coconut boats and afternoon in Hoi An Ancient Town in a separate post.

Entertainment Hub

Besides visiting the casino on both nights, some of us went to check out the Entertainment Hub. It is located at Lower Ground Floor of Hoiana Residences and opens from 10:00 AM till 2:00 AM. This place offers bowling, pool, karaoke, arcade games, virtual golf, sports bar and games zones.

Large TV screens showing live sports at the bar.

Mini putt – 9 Holes.

The staff manning the place is quite friendly. She allowed one of my friends to try the virtual golf machine.

Cyber Golf Lounge

Overall, Hoiana is a nice place to stay while visiting Hoi An. The only downside is that it requires a 20 minutes drive to get to the ancient town. The hotel provides free shuttle services to and from the old town (and also the Da Nang International Airport) but the service runs on a fixed schedule and requires prior reservation. For us, we had booked a private van with driver to ferry us to and from the old town during our stay.

Dinner at Morning Glory Restaurant in Hoi An

2026-05-11T23:42:00.000+08:00

5 March 2026

We went to the Morning Glory Restaurant for our first dinner at Hoi An Ancient Town. I remembered eating at the already famous and popular Morning Glory Restaurant during my first visit to Hoi An in 2017. In fact, the food was so good that we ate there twice.

Located in the heart of the old town, the Morning Glory Restaurant at that time was operated by Ms Vy who also runs a cooking school. This restaurant offers gourmet Vietnamese dining experience within the ancient town. The menu is extensive, prices are slightly higher than what you could expect in Hoi An but the food is value for money.

The restaurant is named after “morning glory“ or “water spinach”, which is one of the most common vegetables consumed in Vietnam. In South East Asia, the vegetable is known as “kangkong” and is a popular dish where the tender shoots along with the leaves are stir fried with garlic and sambal belacan. This plant is resilient, thrive in muddy waters and very easy to grow.

Like the plant itself, Morning Glory has thrived and grown. There is now 4 Morning Glory Restaurants within the old town. The one I went to previously is now named Morning Glory Original, still focusing on authentic Vietnamese cuisine. The newer stores includes Morning Glory Signature, co-located with Morning Glory Lounge Bar and Restaurant that features modern Vietnamese cuisine and live music in the bar, and Morning Glory Countryside highlighting the charm of the countryside.

Map showing the locations and addresses of each Morning Glory restaurants in Hoi An.

On this trip, we went to the newer Morning Glory Signature Restaurant, located just next to the river. Although we did not make any reservations, we had no problem getting seated immediately. We were seated on the 2nd floor of the two-storey house.

Our travel group of 4 couples seated at the 2nd floor of Morning Glory Signature Restaurant.

It is advantageous to dine in a large group of 8 .We could order a larger variety of dishes to share.

On this night, we ordered the chicken curry, banh xeo, grilled half chicken, tofu, squid, prawn salad, beef rice an of course morning glory stir-fried with garlic.

Crispy Banh Xeo with pork skewers and delicious peanut sauce.

Pomelo salad with prawn and pork.

Mango and squid.

Tofu dish.

Grilled half chicken with rice. Surprising tender chicken.

Vietnamese curry chicken with local vegetables served with steamed white rice and baguette to dip into the curry sauce. The curry taste sweeter than what we are used to. But still delicious.

Beef with fried rice. This was the only disappointing dish.

Morning Glory or kangkong as it is called in South East Asia, stir fried with garlic and chilli.

The local beer is extremely cheap and is a must try.

The local beer such as the Huda and Larue is extremely cheap but is quite light in taste. The Larue looks like the stronger tasting Singapore’s Tiger beer but is actually named after a Frenchman, Victor Larue. It is a Vietnamese lager brand, originally brewed in 1909 by a Frenchman, Victor Larue, It is currently owned by Heineken Vietnam.

Overall, the food was delicious but rather pricey compared to what we had for lunch.

We also went to check out the night views from the roof terrace. Since the restaurant is located by the Thu Bon River, we could see the busy streetscape below. Hoi An seemed to be more crowded than before.

View of the Hoi An riverside from the terrace of the restaurant.

Every night, Hoi An glows with thousands of silk lanterns, especially along the river banks. Visitors can ride boats on the river and release candle-lit paper lanterns for good luck but I find the practice not good for the environment.

Boats waiting for passengers at the riverbank.

We walked around riverfront a bit to enjoy the vibes before meeting the driver of our chartered van to take us back to Hoiana New World Hotel. We will have more time to explore the old town the next day.

The iconic Japanese Covered Bridge still stands strong. This landmark actually features on the 20,000 VND banknote.

Interesting name for a cafe/restaurant. Beware of the coffee.

Shop selling the iconic Hoi An lanterns.

Experiencing the Coconut Boat Tour in Hoi An

2026-05-08T14:37:00.000+08:00

6 March 2026

One of Hoi An’s popular tourist activities is the Coconut Boat tour that offers an unique experience in Vietnam. Here, tourists could ride the iconic Vietnamese basket boat through serene waterways and coconut forest, plus more which I would described later.

What is a “coconut” boat?

The “coconut” boat is actually a large circular bamboo basket boat known as thúng chai. They are traditional, hand-woven, circular vessels primarily used by fishermen in Central Vietnam to navigate coastal waters and rivers.

This basket boat was invented during the French colonial era. During that time, the authorities began to levy a tax on the ownership of boats. Most of the poor Vietnamese fishermen who depended on boats for their livelihood could not afford to pay the taxes. So, the ingenious Vietnamese invented a new type of “boat” woven from bamboo strips and coated with tar for waterproofing. This round basket “boat” is functional but technically not a wooden boat, so escaped the tax!

I first saw this boat and even had a chance to row one when I visited Banyan Tree Lang Co in 2017. See my post here.

The coconut boat tour at Hoi An is vastly different from what I experienced back then. The coconut boat tour in Hoi An is more touristy and includes singing, dancing and boat spinning performances.

There are many operators offering this activity in the Bay Mau coconut forest, just north of the Cua Dai Estuary and 5 minutes drive away from our hotel.

Beware of the Entrance Fee Scam

Most people would enjoy the coconut boat tour by booking a package through a tour operator. For us, we came on our own. We had booked a private van with driver to bring us from our hotel to the Bay Mau Coconut Forest area.

Once we alighted from our vehicle, we were approached by touts offering boat tours services. One of the couples in my group had been to Hoi An several times before and had also recently took a coconut boat tour here. So, we had an boat tour operator in mind before we came.

From the car park, we walked towards the village and were stopped by a man in uniform pointing to a sign that says we had to pay an entrance fee of 40,000 VND per person.

My friend who had been here recently did not have to pay anything to enter the village, so she knew something was fishy. The man kept pointing to the sign and asked for money but we refused to give in. For me, 40,000 VND is not a lot of money but we do not like being scammed. Eventually, we called our van driver who spoke to the guy. He probably told him to give up since we know that this is a scam.

Our driver also called our intended boat tour operator who sent out a guy to escort us in.

Following our “escort”, we walked through the village. There are many stores along the way offering souvenirs and snacks. I think these legit shops should stop the ”entrance fee scammer” since he is adversely affecting their business.

Village road leading to the boat tour operator. There are shops on both sides selling souvenirs and snacks.

Our Coconut Tour

Where we did our coconut boat tour.

As we approached the premises of the tour operator, we were welcomed by loud Korean music. Apparently, there are many Korean tourists in Da Nang and Hoi An.

We had to cross a narrow wooden bridge to get across the river.

Even posing for photos on the bridge can be fun.

Colourful floats decorated the sides and top of the wooden bridge, forming a welcoming tunnel.

Many empty thúng chai waiting for their passengers.

The cost of taking the boat tour is negotiable. Our “leader” who had been here before bargained the cost down to 120,000 VND per couple per boat. We told them we do not want to experience the crazy boat spinning during our rides before the start of the tour. Some tour operators would do this during the tour and asked for the passengers for more money for the extra “service”.

Selfie with our boatman.

Bamboo hats are provided to add to the local experience and shield our heads from the sun.

It is best to help each other snap photos during the boat tour.

Once everyone were on board the circular boat and had their photos taken, the tour begins. To propel the non-streamlined “boat”, the boatman has to move the paddle back and forth through the water in an arcing motion at the “front”.

The proper technique to propel the boat is to move the paddle back and forth through the water in an arcing motion at the “front”.

The first part of the tour is quite serene and slow along the calm waterways between the coconut groves. Actually the palm growing in this area is not the usual coconut palm but some kind of sea coconut.

Row, row, row your boat, Gently down the stream.

If you see a crocodile, don’t forget to scream.

I actually enjoyed this part of the ride as it was very photogenic.

We soon entered an area with open water (like a lake) where many boats from other operators had gathered. The vibes changed instantly into a party atmosphere with loud Korean music, singing and boat spinning performances.

Boat man spinning the round boat at high speed.

The boat spinning performance to the tune of Gangnam Style was actually quite entertaining and thrilling to watch.

Although not mandatory, we offered tips to the boat spinning performer and also to the singer on another boat belting out Korean pop songs which was much appreciated.

Then it started to rain a little.

Our boatman offered us an umbrella. Then the rain got heavier. I did not feel comfortable holding an umbrella in the middle of a lake in a thunderstorm.

We told the boatman to cut short the tour and head back to base. Our boatman paddled furiously in the heavy rain. Despite its shape, the thúng chai can move quite fast under the control of a skilled boatman.

By now, our boatman was all drenched in rain and sweat. We were also slightly wet, especially our feet which was in inches of water from the downpour. He paused a few times to rest his weary arms as going back to base was against the flow of the water.

Our boatman all drenched and rowing as fast as he could in the heavy downpour.

We made it back safely. For his hard work I gave our boatman a tip that was almost the cost of the tour.

Group photo at the end. The rain stopped once we were back.

Overall, I enjoyed our little adventure on a coconut boat despite the scam attempt and sudden rain.

As we leave the village, we saw large groups of visitors streaming in from tour buses that had just arrived. The man asking for entrance fee to the village was nowhere to be seen.

But I saw a familiar face. I saw our boatman at the car park, touting for more business so he could earn some honest money to feed his family. The boatman saw us and came over to say goodbye with a smile on his face. I am glad that we had make someone happy for the day.

Afternoon and Evening in Hoi An Ancient Town

2026-05-07T11:19:00.000+08:00

6 March 2025

After a free and easy morning at the New World Hoiana Hotel and a thrilling adventure on a coconut boat tour, we spent the rest of the day exploring Hoi An Ancient Town.

The first thing we did in town was to have lunch. During my previous trip to Hoi An, we had enjoyed some of the best Vietnamese cuisine in the old town. See my previous post on “What and where to eat while in Hoi An”.

Banh Mi lunch at Madam Kanh

Definitely a “must eat” in Hoi An is the banh mi. There are a couple of excellent banh mi restaurants. Our group chose to go to Madam Khanh, also known as the Banh Mi Queen. My wife and I had eaten Madam Khanh’s banh mi back in 2017 and we loved them. Hence it was good to be back.

The business seems to be booming and we had to queue to get a table for our party of 8.

While waiting for our seats, I had to opportunity to witness the staff making the banh mi at the entrance. Back in 2017, our banh mi were made to order by the madam herself.

With business booming, the banh mi preparation process ran like clockwork. The baguettes were toasted in ovens, pre-sliced and filled with basic ingredients first. Depending on the order, other ingredients were then added. This really speed up the preparation process and ensure faster turnovers.

The staff were busy preparing the food behind the long food stand, laden with ingredients.

Pre-toasted and pre-filled baguettes waiting to be customised to order.

After a short wait, we were shown our seats. The staff was apologetic that they had to split us into two groups. 4 persons on the ground floor and the other 4 persons on the second floor. We don’t mind that since the small restaurant was quite crowded.

6 types of banh mi on the menu.

The menu had grown to be more extensive compared to last time we were here in 2017 where there were only three choices (mixed, vegetarian and chicken) in the food menu.

We ate the Mixed Banh Mi and BBQ Pork (Char Siew) Banh Mi. Each banh mi now costs 40,000 VND each. Double of what it was 9 years ago but still less than a quarter of what it may have cost back home.

Mixed Banh Mi and BBQ Pork Banh Mi. Sliced in halves for easy sharing.

Home made chilli on table to add the spiciness to our liking. The chilli paste is potent!

The thing I enjoyed most about the banh mi in Vietnam, especially Madam Khanh’s, is the excellent baguette. The baguette we had was warm, flavourful with a crispy outer crust and soft but chewy inside.

The Mixed Banh Mi is more savoury while BBQ Pork Banh Mi is sweeter and had more pate. They are both value for money, delicious food, hence the justifiable queue.

The interior of the shop did not change much from the last time.

My only complain was the drinks that were served. The salt coffee for 50,000 VND is overpriced and disappointing. It had too much crushed ice and little coffee. It would be better to have soft drink (20,000 VND) or a local beer.

Overall, the lunch experience in this restaurant was good, despite the crowd and overpriced coffee. The service staff are friendly and customer focused. After our meal, we make our payment to the Madam. The elderly lady sat at entrance with a shoe box sized cardboard box to store her cash collection.

Xi Ma – black sesame sweet pudding

After lunch, I led the group to search for the Xi Ma roadside stall that sells the delicious black sesame sweet pudding. This was one of the street foods we tried in Hoi An back in 2017 which I enjoyed and the stall was still there! Google Map location here.

Spotted this cute car on the way to the Xi Ma stall.

I was glad the stall was still in the original location, although the seller seems to have changed.

One of the few street foods I dare to try in Vietnam.

Xi Ma is a dessert made with ground black sesame seeds, sugar and local well water. For me, I think the dessert was not as good as previously as it was slightly too bitter. Probably, due to over roasting of the sesame seeds. Nevertheless, it was still delicious.

Each bowl is 10,000 VND. One of the guys in my group ate 3 bowls.

A walk through the old town

After our dessert, we took a walk to the riverside through the old town. We passed Madam Khanh again. There was no queue outside after the peak lunch hour.

Madam Khanh Restaurant

Hoi An Ancient Town had not changed very much since the last time I was here except that it had become more crowded and there are more Korean tourists than before.

One of the many tailor shops in Hoi An Ancient Town.

It was fun to walk across town through the narrow alleyway instead of the crowded main streets. Occasionally, we would encounter a motorbike or a bicycle squeezing through.

We eventually ended up on Cafe Street or Trần Phú Street. The street is dotted with traditional houses and many cafes. Popular cafes includes Faifo Coffee (famous for its rooftop view), Mot Hoi An (herbal tea), and Fika Cafe (salt coffee).

Cafe street in the old town.

We decided to join the long queue outside Mot Hoi An.

Herbal drink at MOT Hoi An.

We joined the queue at MOT to buy the refreshing, aromatic herbal drink designed to detoxify and cool the body.

The tray showcase the ingredients that went into the drink. Key components include lemongrass, ginger, lime, licorice, cinnamon, jasmine, chrysanthemum, and green tea, typically sweetened with rock sugar or honey.

MOT’s herbal drink served with a lotus petal, fresh herb leaf and a long, thin straw made from hollow-out bamboo stem.

The drink, with plenty of crushed ice, was refreshing and worth the queue. The only problem was that no litter bins were provided at the store. We had to spend time to find a suitable place to throw the used paper cups.

Kwiatkowsky Square with monument dedicated to Polish architect Kazimierz Kwiatkowsky who lived in Viet Nam for 16 years and helped popularise the ancient town of Hoi An.

Typical streetscape in Hoi An.

Mustard-yellow coloured buildings are a characteristic of the buildings in Hoi An Ancient Town.

Street vendors can be seen all over Hoi An. Some even invite tourists to take photos with them for a small fee.

Japanese Covered Bridge

Walking down Trần Phú Street, we arrived at the Japanese Covered Bridge. The Japanese Covered Bridge is a unique and beloved symbol of Hoi An that was built by the Japanese traders in early 17th century. The bridge was constructed with a roof so that it could be used as a shelter from both rain and sun.

The Japanese Covered Bridge is a must-visit landmark in Hoi An Ancient Town. It is depicted on the 20,000 VND note.

Hoi An Ancient Town has many well-preserved buildings that reflects both indigenous and foreign cultures, especially Chinese, Japanese and later European. In my previous visit, my wife and I spent time to explore the interior of some of these interesting historical buildings. You can read about the best places to visit while exploring Hoi An’s UNESCO World Heritage old town here.

Hoi An Riverside

The Hoai River that flows through Hoi An Ancient Town is a major focal point for visitors. It is a tributary of the Thu Bon River flowing through Hoi An.

In the old days, merchant ships once sailed up and down this river. Nowadays, boats carry tourists for sightseeing and joyrides especially in the late evening and at night when the weather is cooler.

I enjoyed loitering around the riverside, watching the boats and people that goes by.

We went to chill at a cafe by the river before our next activity which was a foot massage.

Coffee at 11 Ca Phe

Foot Massage at My Heaven Spa

The spa in Hoi An is quite affordable and having a massage is a good activity to do at the end of the day. We chose to do foot massage at My Heaven Spa which was recommended by my travelling companions.

We were given a small discount by the owner since he recognised my friends from their previous visits.

Waiting for our masseurs to bring our foot bath.

Washing the feet prior to the foot massage.

The masseur I had did a good job, applying the right amount of pressure to my sensitive feet.

Hoi An Riverside at Night

By the time we finished our foot massage, the sky had turned dark. The ancient town and riverside area were more beautiful at night when the lanterns are lit.

A popular activity for couples and families is a boat ride on the Hoai River in the evening.

The tourists were out in force. So were the vendors. Many were offering boat rides and selling candle-lit, paper lotus flowers to release onto the river in return for good fortune and peace.

Candle-lit, paper lotus flowers sold at Hoi An Riverside.

I think it is not a good idea to buy and release the floating paper lanterns as it pollutes the waterway.

Colourful and brightly lit motorised boats.

The town itself is also beautifully lit at night. Here are some photos:

Dinner at Met Vietnamese Restaurant

We chose to have local cuisine at the MẸT Vietnamese Restaurant & Vegetarian Food in Hoi An. This restaurant, located by the side of the river, is a highly-rated dining spot known for its cozy atmosphere, scenic river views, and extensive menu of traditional Vietnamese dishes.

Entrance of the Met Vietnamese Restaurant.

One of the dishes we ordered was the Cao Lau, a noodle that can only be made in Hoi An.

Why?

Authentic Cao Lau is prepared only with water drawn from ancient Cham wells hidden around Hoi An. Some even claim that the water used to prepare the noodle’s dough must be drawn from the town’s Ba Le well, famed for its purity. This resulted in a noodle that is thick and chewy and slightly yellowish, off white in colour.

Cao Lau noodle at the Met Restaurant in Hoi An.

The texture of the noodles I had was on point, almost like a Japanese Udon. For me, the best element of this dish was the crispy pork rind on top. It goes well with the sliced pork and tasty sauce in the noodle.

Loved the flavourful crispy pork rind on top of the chewy Cao Lau noodles.

Besides the Cao Lau, we also tried the Hanoi Grilled Fish or Chả cá Hà Nội. This is special grilled fish is marinated with turmeric and served on a bed of sweet, sliced onions. It also came with a tray of fresh herbs, roasted peanuts, vermicelli, pineapples and rice paper. We are to place the ingredients onto the rice paper, rolled them together and then dipped into the spicy sauce before eating.

Fish with spring onions, onions and chilli.

Another value for money local beer that we tried.

Exploring Da Nang – Shopping at Vincom Plaza, Dinner at Moc Quan and fire and water show at Dragon Bridge

2026-05-06T15:20:00.000+08:00

7 March 2026

The plan for the day was to travel from Hoi An to Da Nang in the morning and then spend the rest of the day exploring Da Nang. We did not have many things planned except shopping for local products at Vincom Plaza, followed by seafood dinner and seeing the iconic Dragon Bridge at night.

The 666m long bridge shaped like an undulating golden dragon is the most famous bridge over the Han River in downtown Da Nang.

The Dragon Bridge comes alive every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings with a thrilling fire and water show at 9 PM where we could see the dragon’s head breathing fire and spraying water over the Han River.

Our accommodation in Da Nang for the next 3 nights was the Crowne Plaza Danang City Centre by IHG. This is a luxurious hotel located in the city center, near to the Han River. We could see the Han River and a bit of the Dragon Bridge from our room.

View of the Han River from my hotel room. Vincom Plaza is located next to the Han River Bridge across the river from our hotel.

Vincom Plaza

We wanted to shop for local products and snacks in Da Nang and our friend recommended that we do this in a local supermarket in Vincom Plaza. Vincom Plaza is within walking distance from our hotel.

After a 20 minutes walk through the city and across the windy Han River Bridge, we arrived at Vincom Plaza. This is a shopping mall that is not very big and not touristy.

We saw Vinfast EV cars displayed and marketed at the atrium, very much like what BYD and other automotive dealers were doing in Singapore’s malls. Few Vietnamese people were looking at the EV cars, unlike Singapore where BYD cars on display typically draws a crowd of enthusiastic shoppers.

Although Vincom Plaza has a range of stores, we spend most of our time in the Win Supermarket buying local products like cashew nuts, Vietnamese coffee, and packaged freeze-dried fruits. We also bought some local-brand cup noodles to try back at the hotel.

The Vietnamese branded cup noodles is quite good. Even comes with chunks of beef!

Laden with stuff we bought, we took taxis back to hotel. We overcame the language barrier by booking and paying for taxis using the Grab mobile app.

We rested in our hotel till it was time for dinner. My friend who planned and organised this trip told us that Da Nang is an excellent place to enjoy a value-for-money seafood feast. One of the best seafood restaurants in town was MỘC Quán Seafood.

MỘC Quán Seafood.

MỘC Quán is a seafood restaurant, not a fruits stall.

It is highly recommended to make a reservation as this restaurant is often crowded with locals and tourists. My friend had a relative who lives in Da Nang and he helped made the booking for us. Alternatively, one could get your tour guide or hotel concierge to help with the reservation.

Those who showed up without reservation often has to queue. We saw many rows of plastic chairs at the entrance, all ready for the hordes of people that turned up without a reservation. Since we came early (before 5 PM) and also had a reservation, we were escorted into the restaurant as soon as we arrived.

We saw rows of glass tanks housing many types of sea critters on our way in. This includes lobsters, prawns, crab, mantis shrimps, shellfish, live fish and other sea critters.

Tanks full of lobsters, prawns, crab, mantis shrimps, shellfish, live fish and other sea critters.

Very comforting sign showing the restaurant’s commitment to providing fresh and quality seafood.

The dining hall was already bustling with diners when we sat down at our table.

We were soon back at the tanks to select the live seafood for our dinner. Prices were clearly labelled and include the cooking fees.

Live lobsters is a must at this place. The price is much cheaper than back home.

We ordered 4 lobsters, i.e. one per couple! This was to be our most expensive dinner on this trip.

After the staff picked the lobsters from the tank, he weighed them in front of us. 4 lobsters weighing a total of 3.365 kg at 230,000 VND per 100g.

The lobster could be cooked in several ways: grilled with salt, grilled with cheese, steamed or cooked with garlic & butter sauce.

For me, the best way to enjoy live seafood is to steam them so we could savour the natural taste. Two couples chose to have steamed lobsters while the other two chose to have them with garlic butter sauce.

Our steamed lobsters with tasty dipping sauces provided.

Lobsters cooked with garlic and butter sauce.

After presenting the cooked lobsters for us to snap some photos, the staff with hands covered by plastic gloves de-shelled the lobsters in front of us. This made it easy for us to enjoy the sweet and firm flesh of the lobster in a more dignified manner.

De-shelled lobster is easy to eat.

I also had a taste of the lobster cooked with the garlic and butter sauce. Although delicious, I find the sauce a bit too thick and rich for my liking.

We also ordered a 1.1 kg live grouper. Once again, we chose to have it steamed with ginger and light soya sauce. I found the fish was slightly overcooked and the flesh turns out a bit hard.

1.1 kg steamed grouper and grilled squid.

The other dishes we ordered include grilled squid, pomelo salad, baked oysters and scallops. The grilled squid was fresh and sweet. It is best eaten with a bit of the spicy dipping sauces.

Oysters baked with garlic was OK. Not great but extremely cheap compared to the prices back home.

Pomelo salad was refreshing and balanced out the seafood we had.

Big and juicy prawns in the pomelo salad.

There were many groups celebrating birthdays at the restaurant. We also had a birthday boy in our group. He was presented with a small cake and the staff came round to sing the birthday song with music and clapping.

After our seafood feast, we took a slow walk to the Dragon Bridge.

Son Tra Night Market

There is outdoor night market located right under the head of Dragon Bridge. The Chợ Đêm Sơn Trà or Son Tra Night Market is a very nice market selling all sorts of stuff including souvenirs, faked sports and outdoor wear. There are also lots of food stalls offering everything from fresh seafood to local delicacies.

Chợ Đêm Sơn Trà is an outdoor night market with many stalls selling all sorts of stuff.

It was quite crowded with tourists looking to snatch a bargain. Yes, you can do some bargaining to get some discounts off the quoted price. In most cases, the prices quoted is already so cheap that it makes no sense to spend time trying to negotiate and haggle for a lower price.

High quality, cheap but fake sports and outdoor wear.

The fire and water show starts at 9 PM so we had some time to kill and chill. We settled down on yellow plastic chairs provided by a coffee stall located very near to the head of the dragon. Typical roadside vendor with plastic chairs and low table. We had street coffee while waiting for the show to start.

Although there are trees partially obstructing the view of the dragon’s head from our seats, we were too lazy to move. While we chilled at the coffee stall, we saw more and more people crowding round the bridge and on the bridge itself. The bridge was actually closed to vehicular traffic for the show but not the surrounding roads.

I took a walk away from the bridge just to get a photo of the whole dragon. Many roadside trees obstructed the view. It was too risky to cross the road with non-stop traffic and get to the river bank for an unobstructed photo.

At 9 PM sharp, the show began. Fire shot out from the mouth of the dragon. I think a flame-thrower was probably used. Thick, black smoke accompanied the flames.

Fire breathing dragon in Da Nang.

A few minutes of fire was soon followed by a few minutes of water. A deluge of water shot out from the dragon’s mouth. Those standing on the bridge were drenched!

The performance lasted for 15 minutes. After the performance, the crowd dispersed orderly. The traffic across the Dragon Bridge resumes almost immediately. Some people stayed to enjoy the party atmosphere.

Party mood at the riverbank. Buskers giving a performance to the bystanders.

We took a nice walk across bridge since our hotel is located on the other side of the river. The views of the city from the bridge were quite nice.

Road is wet from the fire and water show. Imagine standing beneath the dragon head when the water came out.

The colours of the LED lighting up the dragon changes from cool shades of blue to vibrant red hues as we walked across.

There is also a gathering and party atmosphere at the tail end of the bridge.

As we walked back to our hotel, we saw many youngster were hanging out at the cafes and roadside stalls, enjoying their weekends.

Da Nang is actually quite a vibrant city at night.

Exploring Da Nang – Shopping, Sightseeing and Good Food

2026-05-05T22:46:00.003+08:00

8 March 2026

Another day in Da Nang city. We planned to do more shopping and sightseeing on this day. Plus, enjoying the good food that this vibrant Vietnamese city has to offer.

Bánh mì Cô Tiên.

We started the day with a banh mi breakfast. There are plenty of restaurants offering this delicious dish near our hotel and we found Bánh mì Cô Tiên.

We had to use the word found because the location of the store is off the main street and unless you are searching for the store, you will miss it. Google Map location here.

Access is via Tran Phu Street. There is a sign at the entrance of a narrow alley that seems to lead to residents’ houses. After walking in about 50 to 60m, turn left 90 degrees and we saw the brightly decorated storefront of the restaurant.

The restaurant is located at the end of this narrow alleyway, off Tran Phu Street.

Entrance to the banh mi restaurant.

Despite being located in such an obscure place, the restaurant is actually quite well known with tourists. Thanks to the internet I supposed.

Our party of 8 persons was seated in a small private room on the 2nd storey since the ground floor was already fully occupied.

We were given a menu with English and Korean language text. Apparently there are many Koreans tourists in Da Nang and Hoi An.

My wife and I shared a Beef Ham Banh Mi and a Mixed Banh Mi.

The mixed banh mi came with thin slices of beef and pork ham.

A bottle of chilli sauce is provided on the table for us to add extra spiciness to the banh mi. The Korean dining culture is also practiced here. A pair of scissors is provided at the table for us to cut the banh mi into halves or smaller pieces for easy sharing.

Like the banh mi we had in Hoi An, the baguette in this restaurant is excellent. However, I think the fillings of the banh mi served at this restaurant were not as good as the ones we had at Madam Khanh restaurant in Hoi An.

The coffee is not bad but quite pricey. For example, the salt coffee and coconut coffee cost more than most of the banh mi in the menu.

We chose to have the simple Americano for 39,000 VND.

Shopping at Han Market

One of the entrances to Cho Han or Han Market. This one is facing the Han River.

After a satisfying breakfast, we walked to Han Market. The market is located on the west bank of the Han River. Hence, its name.

The market consists of two spacious floors with many small stores, organised based on the goods they offer. There are sections selling branded but fake sportswear like Nike or lululemon, outdoor wear like The North Face or Arcteryx, Crocs shoes and charms, leather goods, clothing on the 2nd floor. Stores offering food stuff popular with tourists such as Vietnamese coffee, dried fruits, cashew nuts, sweets, snacks and toys are located on the ground floor.

The aisles between the stores are narrow and chocked full of tourists from all over the world. We saw many Koreans, Russians and tourists from South East Asia.

The products sold in Han Market are definitely very much cheaper than the genuine branded stuff and the quality is actually quite good too. Hence the popularity of this market.

Crocs shoes going for 150,000 VND to 180,000 VND and a bag of show charms for the Crocs are quoted at 50,000 per bag.

Most of the stores would offer a slight discount off the quoted price if we buy more than one item.

We did not buy any of the packed nuts as there are reported cases of scam (under weight or inferior quality) at this place. We had already bought our snacks and nuts at the local supermarket in Vincom Plaza.

These are some of the items we bought for our grandchildren.

The small charm accessories that are attached on top the Crocs shoes even come with lights.

After an hour or so of shopping, our group met up again at Cộng Cà Phê, a popular Vietnamese coffee chain. The cafe is located just across the street from the Han Market. Besides coffee, the menu also includes different kinds of flavoured tea.

I had the High Mountain Passion Fruit Kumquat Tea which was really refreshing.

Nice and quiet ambience at Cong Cafe

The drinks were refreshing and good.

Lunch at An Thoi Restaurant

A good place for lunch after shopping at Han Market is at the An Thoi Restaurant. The restaurant is just next to the Han Market. In fact, we had lunch at this restaurant on the day that we arrived in Da Nang and we all agreed that we should go back to this restaurant for lunch again after our shopping at the Han Market.

While we were enjoying our coffee, one of the guys kindly volunteered to go get a queue number first. There is always a queue at this popular restaurant and they do not accept reservations.

There is always a queue at An Thoi Restaurant but the queue moves fast.

He was given queue number 31 and the current queue was 13. After getting the queue number, he went to buy some cooked food from inside Han Market which he gladly shared with us later.

Quite tasty boiled pork and squid from Han Market.

The queue moved fast. About 15 minutes later he texted us to head for the restaurant and we arrived just in time to be seated.

We were seated at the same table as before, on the second floor of the restaurant. We also ordered almost the same dishes as before since they were so good.

Fresh coconut imprinted with International Women's Day motif. International Women's Day is celebrated on this day (8 March) and we also saw many florists in Da Nang preparing bouquets for their customers.

Grilled oysters with scallions and peanuts.

Grilled scallops with cheese.

Goi Cuon or Vietnamese spring rolls with dipping sauce.

Cha Gio or Vietnamese fried spring rolls.

Stir Fried Morning Glory with Razor Clams and garlic.

Tôm Sốt Tỏi or Vietnamese Garlic Prawns.

Once again, An Thoi served up delicious and value for money Vietnamese food. No wonder the restaurant is awarded Michelin Bib Gourmand for 2024 and 2025.

After lunch, we took taxis back to our hotel for a rest before going to the
Ling Ung pagoda at Son Tra Peninsula in the afternoon.

Ling Ung Pagoda at Son Tra Peninsula

Linh Ung Pagoda is a famous spiritual site in Da Nang and attracts a large number of tourists and Buddhists from all over the world. The most important and visible highlight of the Linh Ung pagoda is the statue of Lady Buddha. It is the tallest one in Vietnam, equivalent to a 30-floor building. I actually saw it in the distance as our plane was landing in Da Nang Airport.

Can you spot the small white statue of the Lady Buddha in the background?

Linh Ung Pagoda is situated on Son Tra Peninsula, 639 meters above the sea level and 10 kilometers away from the center of Da Nang City. The best way to get there is by taxi. Taking taxis in Da Nang is cheap and easy using the Grab mobile application.

Our taxi driver dropped us off at the car park and we saw the Xa Loi Tower which has 9 levels, rising up to over 30 meters.

Xa Loi Tower as seen from the car park.

As we approached the entrance, the impressive figure of the Lady Buddha appeared, together with the Triple Gate of Linh Ung Pagoda.

The afternoon sun was behind the head of the Lady Buddha statue, forming a nice halo effect.

Once inside, there is no specific path to follow. We could roam freely around the area but my friend led us to see the Lady Buddha first.

Signage showing the overall layout of the complex.

To get to the Lady Buddha statue, we had to pass through the Triple Gate and walked down a flight of steps. The steps were flanked by a pair of stone dragons, facing the sea.

Triple Gate of Linh Ung Pagoda.

Impressive stone dragons on both sides of the steps.

The Lady Buddha is also known as the Goddess of Mercy or Guan Yin. She represents mercy and is considered a patroness of fishermen and a savior in times of fear or despair. In Da Nang, the statue is facing the sea and believed to protect the city from storms and bad weather.

The 67m statue stands on a 35m high lotus base that is depicted as floating on clouds.

The base of the statue is open to the public and people could be seen praying inside.

There are many shady trees and pots of bonsai plants in front of the statue. This is a nice place to rest and relax although there are quite a number of people (tourists and devotees coming to pray) on this day.

The statue stands facing the sea, with one hand praying and the other one holding a pitcher of nectar.

Close-up shot of the statue to see the position of her fingers.

Bonsai plant growing on top of a stone water buffalo.

Another bonsai growing round a vase.

Urn containing joss sticks left by devotees.

Panoramic views of Da Nang city in the distance, as seen from the high ground of this temple complex in Son Tra Peninsula.

Resting and doing some people watching.

After spending some time at the statue of the Lady Buddha, we went back up through the gate to the courtyard in front of the Main Hall. Here, there are more bonsai plants and the 18 Arhat statues.

The courtyard in front of the “Main Hall”.

Another interesting bonsai plant in front of the Main Hall.

It is worth taking a closer look at the architecture of the main hall. Dragons circled the pillars and the roof is also adorned with dragons.

The main hall is supported by sturdy pillars with encircling dragons.

One must remove their shoes before entering the Main Hall. In the center of the main hall, there is a Sakyamuni Buddha statue. To the right of the statue, there is an Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva statue and to the left of it, there is a Buddha Tripitaka statue.

Devotees praying inside the Main Hall.

A statue of Sun Wukong (the Monkey King) from the “Journey to the West” is featured in the surrounding temple area.

After seeing the main hall, we went to see the Xa Loi Tower. The first storey or ground floor of the tower is open for visitors to enter and pray. There is no public access to the other floors.

In front of the tower, there is a resting area where we could see a statue of the Reclining Buddha and statues of 18 Arhat.

In the front of Xa Loi Tower, there is a statue of the Reclining Buddha made of white marble.

There are also lots of bonsai trees and eighteen Arhat marble statues in front of Xa Loi Tower.

It was about 5 PM when we booked Grab taxis to take us to My Khe Beach. Our taxi was actually parked at the car park. The taxis that brought visitors to the place usually hang around waiting for passengers to book their service for the return trip.

My Khe beach

My Khe Beach is located on the east of Da Nang City and it made sense to see this beach after our visit to the Son Tra Peninsula. My Khe Beach used to be called R&R (Rest and Relaxation) Beach by the American troops during the Vietnam War.

My Khe Beach in Da Nang is a very long stretch of beach with smooth sand and a slight slope.

When we arrived, it was near sunset time but since the beach faces east, the sun was actually setting behind. Morning would be the best time to come watch the sunrise and see the locals exercising on the beach.

Guys playing football on My Khe Beach.

There are many people enjoying their evening on this long stretch of beach with gentle slope and fine sand. A group of young men were playing with a football and they were actually quite good, volleying and keeping the ball up many times with the heads and bare feet.

It was nice to stroll along the beach, enjoying the sea breeze and do some people watching.

A red flag warns that the sea is not safe for swimming. Can you spot the Lady Buddha Statue located at the Son Tra Peninsula in the background?

However at a section of the beach that is in front of some hotels, people were enjoying themselves in the water.

Under the watchful eyes of a lifeguard.

Around My Khe Beach, there are many hotels and seafood restaurants. After taking a quick look at My Khe Beach, we went in search of a seafood restaurant for dinner.

Seafood Dinner at Hải sản Hoàng Cung

We chanced upon Hải sản Hoàng Cung, located a few streets away from the seafront. Compared to Moc Quan Seafood that we tried earlier, this restaurant is fairly low-key. It seemed that many Chinese tourists frequent this restaurant as there is a Chinese menu but no English menu.

There are rows of tanks containing live seafood such as lobsters, crabs, shellfishes and live fish. As usual, we went to select the live seafood that we want for our dinner. They would be weighed in front of us and cooked to our liking.

We picked out a live grouper and also a kg of live tiger prawns. The best way to cook live seafood is to have them steamed. We also ordered some razor clams.We chose a grouper that weighs 1.1 kg. At 750,000 VND per kg, it is good value compared to prices back home.

1 kg of live tiger prawns. The staff would de-shell the prawns for us as part of their good service.

0.5 kg of bamboo clams cooked with garlic sauce.

In addition to the seafood, we ordered a few other dishes that include oyster omelette, fried noodles, grilled lamb and pork skewers, and deep fried calamari.

Oyster omelette.Fried noodles.

Calamari deep fried in batter.

Pork with Mixed vegetable

Overall, the food served in this restaurant is good. Our only “complain” was that there were guests who smoked inside the restaurant which is somehow still allowed in Vietnam.

Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge

2026-05-03T23:04:00.000+08:00

9 March 2026

Ba Na Hills is a popular tourist destination in Vietnam featuring a replica of a France medieval town with beautiful flower gardens. In my last visit in Vietnam in 2017, I gave this place a miss since I was not convinced that I should spend precious travel time to see a replica French Village in Vietnam.

All that changed in June 2018 when the Golden Bridge was added. This 150 metre long pedestrian bridge appears to be cradled by two gigantic stone hands amidst the clouds and became an instant hit with travellers and photographers. The photographer in me makes me want to go see this bridge, at least once.

This striking bridge is one of the most photographed spots in Da Nang.

Getting to Ba Na Hills

Ba Na Hills is located 1,487 meters up in the Da Nang mountains and about 25 kilometres from Da Nang city center. We had booked a private van for a day for transportation from our hotel in Da Nang to Ba Na Hills and back.

We planned to arrive at 8.30 AM, before the large crowds that would come by tourist buses. The journey from Da Nang to Ba Na Hills took about 45 minutes and we arrived slightly ahead of schedule at about 8.15 AM.

En-route, we caught a glimpse of a 12 mete tall monument at a roundabout. A quick check reveal that this is a monument dedicated to a local hero named Lê Thị Danh (Mother Nhu) who sacrificed her life in 1968 to save soldiers during the Vietnam War.

Mother Nhu Monument dedicated to a local hero who died in 1968 after protecting soldiers during the Vietnam War.

The sculpture was constructed using roughly 7,000 bomb and bullet casings found in Da Nang.

Entrance at Ba Na Hills and Getting to the Golden Bridge

Despite getting to Ba Na Hills early in the morning, there were already some groups of visitors gathered outside the entrance.

Entrance area of Sun World Ba Na Hills.

As per plan, we made beeline to the Golden Bridge.

Map showing the layout of Ba Na Hills and cable car system up and down Ba Na Hills.

To get to the famed bridge, we had to take a cable car. Thanks to my travel companions, we had already booked our tickets online so we saved some time avoiding queues at the ticket booths. Each ticket cost 950,000 VND, without the buffet lunch option.

As we entered, staff members handed each of us a coupon that entitled us to 2 glasses of free beer or a snack up at the French Village.

It was a long walk from the entrance to the cable car station. Along the way, there are things to see such as statues of the Chinese Zodiac Signs, Koi pond and even shops trying to sell us some drinks, ice-cream and snacks.

There was no need for us to read the map as there were ushers pointing the way to the cable car station that would bring us to the Golden Bridge.

This is the place that our e-ticket is scanned before boarding the cable cars.

We took the cable car from Suoi Mo Station to Ba Na Station. This is the first cable car in Ba Na Hills and holders of two world records. It was the longest (5,042 m) single-wire cable car (record held from 2009 to 2013) and also the cable car of the largest altitude difference (1,291 m) between first and last stations (record held from 2009 to 2013).

Each cable car could only take a maximum of 6 persons, so our group of eight had to split up.

Ba Na Hills has one of the longest and highest cable car system in the world.

We saw some muddy waterfalls from the cable car. As we proceeded up the mountain, the visibility became worse as our cable cars entered into the thick clouds. I was wondering if we could see anything at the Golden Bridge as we could see nothing but fog from the cable car.

The cable car ride took about 15 to 20 minutes. After disembarking from the cable car, we took a short funicular ride further uphill.

The journey on the funicular took only a few minutes.

The Golden Bridge

It was slightly misty when we got onto the Golden Bridge. I think the photos that we took on the bridge did not turn out too bad, despite the misty conditions. There is no massive crowd but it would be near impossible to snap a photo with just ourselves in the frame.

Braving the cold weather on the Golden Bridge.

There was no rain but moisture from the clouds plus the slight wind made us feel chilly. My travelling companion kindly lends his new The North Face hiking jacket (bought from Han Market) to my wife to “test the insulation and waterproofness” as he puts it. The fake product passed the test. I should have bought one too!

The ladies putting on the newly bought hiking jackets.

We were feeling famished since we did not have a proper breakfast due to our early start. Thankfully there are stalls selling banh mi, hot dogs and other food inside the pavilion located at other end of the bridge.

The area at the center of the pavilion has benches and even heaters to keep us warm.

Enjoying our hotdogs and hot coffee.

After our meal, we had more time to explore and take more photos at the Golden Bridge before seeing the other attractions around this area.

Le Jardin d’ Amour or Garden of Love

There is a series of beautiful gardens stretching from Golden Bridge to Linh Ung Pagoda on the same hill. Most visitors will visit the gardens after seeing the Golden Bridge. There are lots of photo opportunities inside the massive garden.

Yellow Trumpet Flowers.

There was a tulip festival during this period, so we got to enjoy plenty of colourful tulips.

Linh Ung Pagoda

Leaving the flower gardens we followed the signage that pointed us to a pagoda.

Walking towards the temple. Statues featuring the characters from Journey to the West.

Statue of Guan Yin riding on a green dragon in front of a water feature.

This is one of three Linh Ung Pagodas in Da Nang: the others are on Son Tra Peninsula and Marble Mountains.

The main attraction at Linh Ung Pagoda Ba Na Hills is the massive seated Buddha statue. It looked kind of mysterious towering above us against in the misty sky.

Statue of Buddha standing on a 6-meter-tall white lotus.

The statue’s base has an octagonal shape. Walking around it in a clockwise direction, my Buddhist friend and I discussed the eight pictorial panels that represent the life of Gautama Buddha. We also took a peek inside the base to see an altar.

Altar with a golden seated Buddha inside the lotus base.

Cable Car to the French Village

After seeing the Golden Bridge, flower gardens and Linh Ung Pagoda, the next place to visit will be the French Village located at the top of the mountain.

We had to walk back via the Golden Bridge to the Bordeaux Station to take another cable car to the Louvre Station. The ride took about 5 minutes and brought us to the French Village, located on the top at mountain at an elevation of around 1,400 meters.

The cable car is large enough for the 8 of us.

The Louvre Station complex is quite large and contains restaurants and stalls selling food and drinks. There are even massage chairs and booths with “sun heat” for those feeling cold.

These guys enjoying some warm inside this box.

Leaving the Louvre Station, we found ourselves in a 19th-century French/European village, complete with cobblestone streets, towering castle, buildings with medieval architecture and cathedral.

I originally thought this was a statue of Cupid, the god of love but it turns out I was wrong. This is Diana, the goddess of hunting.

French inspired village at Ba Na Hills.

This cathedral is real. Known as Saint Denis Church, we could go in to see the interior.

Inside the church.

Helios Waterfall located opposite the Ba Na Brew House.

Free beer and food at the Ba Na Brew House.

After checking out the French Village, we went to the brewery known as the Ba Na Brew House. It was time for a drink and we could use the coupons to claim our free beer or a dish of food. We could use the coupon to redeem 2 glasses (250 ml) of beer OR a dish of food.

Coupon that were given to everyone at the entrance to Ba Na Hills.

To get to the restaurant at the basement, we had to walk through the multi-level brewery which showcases how the beer is made.

We had to check in at the 3rd level and then made our way to the basement.

There are interpretative signs explaining the brewing process but none of my friends are interested to stop and look.

We finally arrived at the restaurant at the basement where we could hear singing and clapping led by a German band playing on stage. Very Oktoberfest kind of vibes.

The band did a good job to create an Oktoberfest atmosphere inside the Ba Na Brew House.

Once seated, we finally got our 2 glasses (250 ml) of craft beer brewed at Ba Na Hills and some French fries. I was quite amuse when I saw the server using a weighing scale to make sure I did not get more or less of the fries I was entitled to. Have to be exact.

Each couple, with 2 coupons, chose to have 2 craft beer and a small basket of French fries.

The band was still playing when we left to get our lunch.

Lunch at Ba Na Hills

Earlier when we walked into the plaza when the brew house was located, we saw and smelled the delicious aroma of chickens and pork belly roasting over charcoal fire. We could not resist the temptation. So our lunch at Ba Na Hills was BBQ chicken, crispy roast pork and beer which was pretty good.

These chickens and pork belly roasting above a charcoal fire smell so good.

We sat outdoor under a tent to enjoy the warm food and natural cool air.

Delicious and well seasoned BBQ chicken.

Kimchi is served with the BBQ Pork. Definitely a Korean influence but I am not complaining. It goes well with the meat.

Afterglow Cabaret Show

The cabaret show at Beer Plaza Restaurant is one of the highlights in Ba Na Hills. We caught the 1:30 PM performance and it is free of charge.

Ba Na Hills’s cabaret show times are from 1:30 to 2:00 PM, 3.30 to 4:00 PM, and from 6:30 to 7:00 PM everyday (except Tuesday).

The production includes an international cast of dancers and drag queens. The lead performers for the show are two renowned Thai transgender beauty queens and they are really pretty!

Nice choreography and impressive costumes.

After the show, guests are invited to take photos with the cast members.

Main stars are these two transgender beauty queens from Thailand.

Mini Amusement Park

At one end of the village there is a mini amusement park. Due to foggy and damp weather, the bumper cars and some rides were not opened.

However the spinning teacup ride was operational. Although this ride is usually meant for kids, some of us wanted to go have some fun.

Fun was what we got!

The speed of this ride at Ba Na Hills was much faster than expected and definitely not meant as a kiddy ride. The G-forces on the ride were quite strong, pushes us against the sides and I could hear people (guess who?) screaming in fear and excitement.

Screaming and hanging on for dear life!

We were all excited and laughing at ourselves at the end of ride!

The Spiritual Zone at Ba Na Hills

The Spiritual Zone at Ba Na Hills is a peaceful, high-altitude sanctuary featuring Buddhist temples, pagodas, and supposedly stunning mountain views, if we could see through the fog.

Map showing the layout of the Spiritual Zone.

There are some stairs to climb to the summit but the path is well decorated and beautiful.

Love the moss and plants growing on this figure of a squirrel.

The grand staircase with four stone dragons greeting visitors and a welcome archway with Chinese characters.

Very cute and likeable statues lined the sides of this stairs leading upwards.

There are yellow flowers that looked like trumpets above this guy.

We made a stop at the tea house located within the Spiritual Zone and we were in for a treat!

Tru Vu Tea Corner

There is a lady playing excellent music on what we thought was a guzheng. The instrument she used was actually a Vietnamese zither, known as the Đàn Tranh. Based on the Chinese guzheng, it is a traditional 16 to 17 string plucked instrument with a curved, long body and a pentatonic scale. This instrument featured in royal court music, folk melodies and even modern compositions.

Watching the lady creating beautiful sounds from the traditional musical instrument.

We sat on a wooden platform, sipping tea and mesmerised by the beautiful music coming out from the zither. She even accepted our requests to play some popular Chinese songs, including Teresa Teng’s 月亮代表我的心.

Linh Phong Tower - a nine-level, four-edge pagoda.

Leaving the tea house, we continued our way up and could hear the constant dong, dong sound of a bell being struck.

The bell is housed inside a bell tower. Guess who is ringing the bell.

Not a monk. Not a visitor.

It is a mechanised robot that rings the 1-ton bell!

Even monks are being replaced by robots.

It was slightly pass 4 PM when we took the cable car down. As we got lower, the sky cleared up a little to reveal the stunning views that we missed from the summit.

Long ride down the mountain.

On the way down, we shared the cable car with an interesting couple. The guy was a Malaysian who married a Vietnamese woman and is now living in Vietnam. During the 20 minutes ride down, we had an interesting chat about life in Malaysia and Vietnam.

Our driver picked us up as planned from the car park. We told him to take us to a Korean BBQ restaurant in downtown Da Nang for our dinner. On the way, I spotted an unusual sight of a motorcyclist with a pillion rider carrying what looked like a big kitchen sink or tub.

The Vietnamese are ingenious when it comes to using the motorcycle and solving a problem.

Overall, our daytrip to Ba Na Hills was enjoyable despite the foggy conditions. We got to see the famous Golden Bridge and we had some fun and laughter with good company.

A few weeks after I returned home, someone who is planning a trip to Da Nang asked me if Ba Na Hills was worth going.

My reply was:

Worth going to see the Golden Bridge since it is quite unique. The other attractions are sort of OK, nice but not really a must-see.

Been there, done that. I won’t be going back a second time.

Korean BBQ in Da Nang

2026-04-30T11:00:00.000+08:00

9 March 2026

For a change, let’s have non-Vietnamese food in Da Nang after our trip to Ba Na Hills.

How about a Korean BBQ dinner?

Since there are so many Korean tourists and expats in Da Nang, we figured that the Korean restaurants within Da Nang should be pretty good.

After some googling for Korean Restaurants with good reviews, we decided on Korea BBQ House. It is located on the eastern side of Han River and quite near to My Khe Beach. Google Map location here.

From Ba Na Hills, we told the driver of our chartered van to drop us at the restaurant instead of our hotel and he was happy to do so. We would have to take taxis back to our hotel after dinner.

We were quickly shown to our table when we arrived at 6 PM. The menu has text in 4 languages – Vietnamese, Korean, English and Chinese. Guess which language has the largest font size.

Korean, of course. This is a Korean restaurant after all.

Our group of eight persons shared 2 charcoal grills mounted on a long table, i.e. 4 persons to share a grill and also the food. There are suction devices above the grill to remove the smoke just like a typical BBQ restaurant in Korea.

My group of 4 ordered the following items to share:

300g of beef rib steak for 550,000 VND

200g of marinated beef ribs for 350,000 VND.

200g of Pork Belly or Samgyeopsal for 220,000 VND.

Steamed egg or Gyeran-jjim for 100,000 VND.

Seafood Soft Tofu Stew or Sundubu Jjigae for 160,000 VND.

For drinks, we had Sapporo Draft Beer for 60,000 VND per glass.

This restaurant uses real charcoal fire and not gas, which is a good sign. This adds extra smoky flavour to the grilled meat.

Red hot coals on the stove before the server places the hotplate.

Besides the side dishes or banchan as expected in a Korean restaurant, kimchi pancakes were given as a service dish.

Side dishes or banchan included in the meal.

We were also given fresh lettuce and several plates of garnishes. This is so we could eat the grilled meat, Korean style, wrapped in a lettuce bundle with garnishes and ssamjang.

Complimentary kimchi pancake.

I had expected the server to help us grill the meat like some restaurants do in Korea, but apparently not. The server looked hesitant when I requested her to grill the meat for us. We ended up grilling the meat ourselves which was Ok since I enjoy cooking the meat to my desired level of doneness.

The steamed egg was not as fluffy as the one we had in Jeju but still tasty. The meat and side dishes were excellent and definitely value for money. The whole meal for 4 persons was 1,500,000 VND. This is equivalent to SGD 72 or SGD18 per person. What a bargain compared to prices back home!

Next time if we crave for authentic Korean food and do not wish to fly to Korea, we could fly to Da Nang instead.

By the way, the restaurant “bribes” you with a free drink of your choice if you leave a google review. This happens in many places, it seems. So interpret the google reviews with care.

Morning at Da Nang City

2026-04-28T11:01:00.000+08:00

10 March 2026

This was our last day in Da Nang and we had some time in the morning to try some Vietnamese food near our hotel (Crowne Plaza Danang City Centre by IHG) before catching our 1 PM flight home.

We had nothing planned, we just wander and see what we could find. We found 2 nice places that is worth a visit again.

Breakfast at Bún chả cá 109

My travelling companion has some craving for Bun Cha Ca (Vietnamese Fishcake Noodle Soup) and so we ended up in a small restaurant located within walking distance to our hotel. Google Map location here.

The signage says Bun Cha Ca and there are many locals inside, so we stepped in.

Bún chả cá 109 is actually a Michelin Bib Gourmand awarded restaurant and we only found that out when we saw the menu. This restaurant only serves Bun Cha Ca, their house specialty.

The menu with 6 options to choose from.

There are various ingredients to go with the standard fish cakes in the noodle soup. We could choose add tuna, mackerel, crab cakes or crab paste or just upsize the fishcakes.

I ordered a Bun Cha Ca with a mixture of fish cake, crab cake and crab paste for 55,000 VND.

Bun Cha Ca with a mixture of fish cake, crab cake and crab paste.

Long thin bean sprouts and chopped lettuce came with every bowl of noodles. This should be added to the noodles immediately while the broth is still hot.

These condiments are on the table – chopped pickled shallots, fresh whole chilli , bottle of fish sauce and sambal made with what looks like chopped garlic, chilli and tomato.

I was pleasantly surprised by the taste of the light broth. The broth is made from boiling fish bones so it tasted sweet but there is also a tinge of sourness. There was no fishy smell, thanks to the fresh ingredients. We could also add lime and chilli to taste.

Crab cake in my noodle.

The fish cake is more springy compared to the sweeter and softer reddish crab cake. Both ingredients are good, giving a variety of taste to the already excellent bowl of noodle.

The crab paste disintegrated and mixed into the broth, giving it extra sweetness and flavour. This was the first time trying Bun Cha Ca and I loved it.

Overall, Bun Cha Ca 109 serves yummy breakfast food and is worth a try when in Da Nang.

La Bicicleta café

We went for coffee at the La Bicicleta café located a few doors away from Bun Cha Ca 109. Google Map location here.

Located at 33 Tran Quoc Toan, this is another good find. This quiet and cosy cafe with nice interior decorations is a hidden gem.

La Bicicleta café

I love the wooden coffee table made from tree trunks. The flimsy wooden chairs could be better.

We know this cafe takes its coffee seriously when it provides us with
glasses of palate cleanser before serving the coffee.

The palate cleanser taste like diluted Chrysanthemum tea.

The coffee menu is extensive, including the local favourites like salt coffee, coconut coffee, and egg coffee. The menu also include many flavours of tea.

Since I find Vietnamese coffee too sweet for my liking, I ordered my usual Americano for only 25,000 VND.

Americano coffee with a nice layer of foam on top.

We sat and chill till it was time to check out from our hotel.

South Korea Autumn 2025 – 8 days in Jeonju, Gwangju and Seoul

2026-03-28T11:22:00.003+08:00

One of the best times to visit South Korea is in autumn (September to November). During these months, the weather is cool and dry with beautiful scenery coloured by vibrant foliage of yellow gingkos and red maples.

In this November trip to South Korea, we spent 2 days exploring Jeonju Hanok Village and then 2 days in Gwangju, specifically to make day trips out from this city to Naejangsan National Park and Damyang. We ended our trip with 3 days in Seoul.

I chose to include Jeonju in my itinerary as Jeonju has the largest hanok village in Korea and is deeply tied to Korea's Joseon Dynasty. Jeonju was the ancestral home of the Yi clan, the family of King Taejo (Yi Seong-gye), who founded the Joseon Dynasty, making it a significant place for the royal lineage. Many historical K-dramas featuring stories in the Joseon era were filmed in this city.

Jeonju is also a city with plenty of food tradition. Bibimbap, one of the most representative food of Korea, was born out of Jeonju and the region of Jeollado-province, where the city is located.

Jeonju bibimbap

We were travelling in mid-November which was tail-end of the autumn leaves season in South Korea but I was confident that we could still experience the autumn foliage since the weather had been unusually warm in 2025 and winter will start later. Hence, we grabbed the opportunity to visit Naejangsan National Park, which is highly raved as one of the best mountains to see the autumn foliage in South Korea.

Autumn foliage at Naejangsan National Park.

We stayed 2 nights in Gwangju, a city famous for the pro-democracy uprising in May of 1980 and also its delicious cuisine. We did not have time to explore Gwangju fully. Instead, we used this city as a base to make day trips to Naejangsan National Park and Damyang. Damyang is known for the famous Juknokwon bamboo forest and Metasequoia-line Road and is best access by bus from Gwangju.

On a trail in Juknokwon bamboo forest in Damyang.

We ended our short trip in Seoul. We had been to Seoul several times before. This time, we spent 3 days to explore new and upcoming areas such as Ikseon-dong, Seongsu-dong and Naksan. Plus, enjoying more Korean food!

Besides autumn leaves viewing, we intended to try as much local cuisine as we can on this trip. It made sense to do prior research as to what and where to eat some of the best cuisine in places like Jeonju and Gwangju and even Seoul. We had iconic Korean dishes like

Bibimbap, tteokgalbi, makgeolli, moju and choco-pies in Jeonju and Gwangju
Korean BBQ of lamb skewers (Yang-kochi), pork belly and Korean beef (hanwoo).
Korean ginseng chicken soup (samgyetang)
Various kinds of Korean Soup Rice (gukbap) or stew (jjigae). This included gukbap with blood sausage (sundae), Jeonju’s bean sprout soup (kongnamul-gukbap), pork back-bone stew (gamjatang) and ox bone soup (seolleongtang)

The following is a day by day summary of our 8 days in South Korea.

Day 1 (14 November 2025) – Arrival and travel to Jeonju. Explore Jeonju Hanok Village.

Our flight arrived as scheduled and by the time we cleared immigration, it was around 8 AM. We planned to stay a couple of days in a hanok located within Jeonju Hanok Village after our arrival to South Korea. The distance between Incheon International Airport (ICN) and Jeonju city is about 242 km and the best and also cheapest way to get from Incheon Airport (ICN) to Jeonju was by express bus. The trip would normally take slightly over 3 hours on a comfortable, spacious limousine bus. We took longer than that due to a little error we made at the airport. We finally arrived at the Jeonju Intercity Bus Terminal at about 1 PM. From there, we took a short 15 minutes taxi ride to the Jeonju Hanok Village.

Trip report: Travel from Incheon International Airport to Jeonju Hanok Village.

Where we stayed: Our accommodation in Jeonju Hanok Village was the Star Rest Guesthouse located in the southern edge of the village.

Trip report: Our stay at a hanok in Jeonju Hanok Village.

We had lunch at Veteran Kalguksu restaurant which is known for its signature hot, savory knife-cut noodle soup with a rich, eggy broth, perilla seed, and seaweed.

A hot savoury bowl of noodle soup was perfect comfort food after a long journey by red-eye flight from Singapore and long bus rides from the airport.

We spent the afternoon exploring the main street of Jeonju hanok village and went to Omokdae. Omokdae is a historical site located on top of a steep hill and provides a vantage point over the Jeonju Hanok Village.

Beautiful pavilion and autumn leaves at Omokdae.

From Omokdae, it was a short walk to Jaman Mural Village located next to the Jeonju Hanok Village. The Jaman Mural Village is a colorful village filled with murals along its walls. We enjoyed murals of nostalgic anime characters, celebrities, fairytale scenes, floral patterns, and creative local art and also had coffee in a really beautifully decorated cafe.

Fun snapping photos at Jaman Mural Village.

Jeonju Hanok Village is frequently used as filming locations for Korean movies and dramas. We had time to seek out a few such locations in the village.

Many scenes from the K-drama Twenty-Five Twenty One were filmed in Jeonju Hanok Village, including this tunnel.

We also check out Jeonju's version of Choco Pie from PNB Bakery and it was pretty good.

Jeonju’s Choco Pie

We ended the day eating the must-try bibimbap at Hankook Jib. We had both the Jeonju bibimbap and yukhoe (Korea’s beef tartar) bibimbap.

Yukhoe Bibimbap with raw minced beef.

We also tried the moju (literally “mother's wine”) which is a Jeonju makgeolli (rice wine) with medicinal herbs like jujube, ginger and cinnamon.

Trip report: Exploring Jeonju Hanok Village – Day 1

Day 2 (15 November 2025) – Exploring Jeonju Hanok Village

Arched bridge over Jeonjucheon River.

We started the day with a morning walk along the Jeonjucheon River to the Nambu Market. We specifically went to this market to eat the kongnamul gukbap (bean sprout soup) from the Hyundaiok store.

Kongnamul gukbap (bean sprout soup) in Nambu Market is highly recommended for breakfast in Jeonju Hanok Village.

We walked past the Pungnammun Gate, built during the Joseon dynasty, on our way to the Gyeonggijoen Shrine. There are many gingko trees planted on the side of the roads leading to the gate and the area was beautiful in autumn.

Pungnammun Gate

Gyeonggijoen Shrine is a highlight of Jeonju. The shrine holds the portrait of King Tae-jo, the founder of the Joseon dynasty.

Best time to visit Gyeonggijoen Shrine is in autumn.

Gyeonggijoen Shrine is extremely beautiful in autumn. Many people were dressed in traditional hanbok costume and doing photo-shoot inside and outside the shrine. Many of these buildings were actually used to film movies and dramas depicting the Joseon era, such as the drama “Love in the Moonlight.”

Portrait of King Tae-jo, the founder of the Joseon dynasty.

We joined the 11 AM free English language tour. We were hosted by an excellent guide who explained the history of the shrine and why the king’s portrait is important to the Korean people, especially those in Jeonju. The tour ended outside the Royal Portrait Museum and we went to see the exhibits inside. This museum exhibits the original portraits of Joseon kings and other relics like royal palanquins used during the enshrinement of King Taejo’s portrait in 1872.

Leaving the shrine, we walked along the Gyeonggijeon Stone Wall Road to the Jeondong Ddeokgalbi restaurant. Tteokgalbi is a popular Korean dish of sweet and savory grilled short rib patties, resembling burgers. It is juicy and sweeter in seasoning and is a signature food in this region.

We went back to the entrance of Gyeonggijeon Shrine after lunch. We were just in time to catch the “changing of the guard” ceremony.

Changing of the Guards Ceremony at entrance to Gyeonggijoen Shrine. The guards are dresses in traditional Joseon era uniforms.

We joined the free hanok village alley tour at 3 PM. We visited a few places of interest within the hanok village during the tour. This includes the Jeondong Catholic Church, Hagindang, a 600 year old gingko tree, pansori museum, home of last prince of Joseon and even a house with 3 flags (Korean, France and USA) flying outside. It was good to have a local guide explaining the history and significance of the places we visited.

Listening to our guide during the hanok village alley tour.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the hanok village on our own. Not to miss is the Jeonju hyanggyo where there are many gingko trees inside, including a 400-year-old ginkgo tree.

Jeonju hyanggyo with many beautiful gingko trees in autumn. This is another popular K-drama and movie filming location.

We ended our exploration of the hanok village with another tteokgalbi dinner at Gyodong Tteokgalbi.

Tteokgalbi dinner in Jeonju.

Trip report: Exploring Jeonju Hanok Village – Day 2.

Day 3 (16 November 2025) - Travel to Gwangju by bus. Day trip to Damyang to see Juknokwon Bamboo Forest and the Metasequoia-lined Road.

The plan for the day was to travel from Jeonju to Gwangju in the early morning. Upon arriving in Gwangju, we would store our luggage in the lockers at the bus terminal and make a day trip to Damyang to see the Juknokwon Bamboo Forest and Metasequoia-Lined Road. We would check into our hotel in Gwangju at the end of the day.

With help from our helpful hanok host, we managed to catch the 8.10 AM express bus to Gwangju. After leaving our luggage in the lockers at Usquare Gwangju Bus Terminal, we took the local bus 311 to Damyang. The journey took about 1.5 hours and the bus stops directly at Juknokwon. Juknokwon (namely Bamboo Garden) is the most famous bamboo forest in South Korea and is certainly worth a visit. This bamboo forest is open all year round. Autumn is a nice time to visit as it is cooler and less humid.

Within the large and dense bamboo forest, there are many walking trails for those looking to enjoy peaceful walks close to nature and snapping photos without the crowds. Overall, we had about 2.5 hours of fun exploring the trails and taking lots of photos within the bamboo forest.

Trip report: Day trip to Damyang Bamboo Garden (Juknokwon) from Gwangju.

After Juknokwon, we went to see the Metasequoia-lined Road, located about 2 km away. As the name implies, the Metasequoia-lined Road is an 8.5 km boulevard with towering metasequoia trees planted on both sides. The canopies of the trees form a nice “tunnel” if you walk down the road.

Metasequoia-lined Road in Damyang.

It is especially beautiful in autumn when the leaves of the trees turned golden and crimson in the afternoon sun.

Although there are many people visiting Metasequoia-lined Road on this weekend, there are plenty of photo opportunities. We enjoyed our visit to Damyang and snapped plenty of photos.

One of my favourite photos in Damyang.

Trip report: A walk down a Metasequoia-lined Road in Damyang.

Returning to Gwangju, we checked into our hotel (Madrid Hotel) located near Gwangju Seongjeong Station.

There are many eating places near the train station and our hotel. We had Yang-kochi (Grilled Lamb Skewers) in a Korea-Chinese Restaurant called Jangbaesan.

The most interesting thing about the yangkochi is the automatic, self-rotating grills, which allow diners to cook the skewers easily at the table.

This dish has a history rooted in Chinese cuisine that was later adopted and popularized in South Korea as a staple "Korean-Chinese" dish. It was the first time we tried yangkochi in Korea and we loved it.

Trip report: Yang-kochi (Lamb Skewers) dinner at Gwangju’s Jangbaesan Restaurant.

Where we stayed in Gwangju: We stayed at the Gwangju Madrid Hotel. I chose this hotel which is located within walking distance from the Gwangju Seongjeong KTX Station since we would travelling by KTX (South Korea’s High Speed Rail) on the next 2 days for a day trip to Naejangsan National Park and then to Seoul.

Day 4 (17 November 2025) – Day trip to Neajangsan National Park

Naejangsan National Park is located near Jeongeup, a city in North Jeolla Province. We made a daytrip to Naejangsan from Gwangju since it is only 20 minutes away by KTX (Korea’s high speed train).

This place is extremely popular and hence crowded during the peak autumn foliage season. It is advisable to arrive early on a weekday to beat the expected crowds so we had an early start from Gwangju. We enjoyed a hearty bowl of boiling hot gukbap at the popular Yeongmyeong Gukbap shop located opposite the train station.

One of the best breakfasts we had on this trip. Gukbap that came with cuts of tender pork head meat, pig stomach, liver, bean sprouts and sundae in a boiling pot of rich savoury broth.

From Jeongeup Station, we took the local bus No. 171 to Naejangsan National Park. It was about 9 AM when we alighted at the small town beside the Naejangsan National Park.

The views of the autumn leaves at this park were magnificent. We were not hampered by any crowds by going on a weekday and arriving early.

The “maple-tree tunnel” from the park entrance to Uhwajeong Pavilion is one of the best places to enjoy the autumn foliage.

Some “must-not-miss” highlights in the park include Uhwajeong Pavilion, cable Car to Yeonjabong Peak, Maple Tree Trail to Naejangsa Temple and the trail from the entrance of the park to Uhwajeong Pavilion.

Trip report: Day trip to Naejangsan National Park in autumn.

We left Naejangsan relatively early and got seats on bus 171 back to Jeongeup Station. From there, we took the KTX back to Gwangju SeongJeong Station.

One of Gwangju’s signature local delicacies is the tteokgalbi (grilled minced beef or pork short rib patties).

Tteokgalbi dinner at Gwangju’s Tteokgalbi Street.

The best place to try this dish while visiting Gwangju is at the Tteokgalbi Street in Gwangju Songjeong-dong which was just minutes walk from the train station and our hotel.

Trip report: Tteokgalbi - Must eat food at Gwangju.

Day 5 (18 November 2035) – Travel by KTX to Seoul and free and easy in Myeongdong

My original plan for the day is to travel from Gwangju to Seoul by KTX (South Korea’s High Speed Train) in the morning and go explore the Daehak-ro and Naksan area in the afternoon. But Seoul was experiencing an unusual cold spell on this day. I thought Naksan, being at higher elevation would be cold, so our plan changed. We spent the afternoon in Myeongdong instead. Myeongdong is a famous shopping district in the heart of Seoul, known for its dense concentration of Korean cosmetics, fashion brands, restaurants and vibrant street food.

We had lunch at Sinseon Seolleongtang (Myeongdong Branch). Sinseon Seolleongtang is a popular restaurant chain found all over Korea serving up tasty bowls of ox bone soup known as seolleongtang.

Ox bone soup known as seolleongtang.

After an afternoon of shopping, we had pork BBQ at the Hanam Pig House.

Hanam Pig House is a popular Korean BBQ chain specializing in premium, grilled pork (pork belly, shoulder loin, ribs).

Trip report: Travel to Seoul and shopping & eating in Myeongdong

Where we stayed: Our hotel in Seoul for the next 3 nights is the Ibis Ambassador Myeongdong. We chose this hotel because it is located close to bus stops along Namdaemun-ro, Euljiro 1-ga (Line 2) subway station. The bus stop for the limousine bus to the airport is also just at its doorstep!

Day 6 (19 November 2025) - Explore Seoul’s Seongsu-dong area

The Seongdong-gu area, best known for the trendy Seongsu-dong area, often called the "Brooklyn of Seoul," which blends industrial, repurposed warehouses with chic cafes, pop-up stores, and street art. We planned to spend the whole day exploring the area.

We went to Seoul Forest in the early morning before visiting Seongsu-dong since the shops and cafes open after 11 AM. Seoul Forest Park is known for cherry blossoms in spring, lush greenery in summer, and ginkgo trees in autumn. There is also a deer corral in the park and access to Hangang Riverside Park.

Seoul Forest is known for their beautiful gingko trees in autumn.

It was about 11.30 AM when we left Seoul Forest. We made a stop at Lowide Coffee Bakery, located near Seoul Forest. After the coffee break, we continued our exploration of Seongsu-dong.

There are plenty of cafes, restaurant and stores to explore. We had delicious gamjatang, a Korean pork and potato stew, at Somunnan Seongsu Gamjatang and also tried the famous salt-bread from Jayeondo Sogeumppang and pies from Ho Gwa Dang Tiger Pie House.

Yummy stuff we had in Seongsu-dong.

We ended our visit to Seongsu-dong at Haus Nowhere. I particularly like the gigantic animatronics dog at the ground floor. The sleeping dog was so realistic, complete with gentle breathing, muscle twitches.

Gigantic animatronics dog at Haus Nowhere, Seongsu-dong.

In addition to the dog, there are other impressive displays of robots.

Since we were near to the COEX Mall, we took a bus there. Just to visit the Starfield Library.

We ended the day having hanwoo or Korea beef at Wangbijib Korean BBQ Restaurant, Myeongdong branch.

Korea beef barbeque to satisfy our craving for high grade Korean beef.

Trip report: Autumn morning at Seoul Forest and afternoon at Seongsu-dong and COEX Mall.

Day 7 (20 November 2025) – Explore Seoul’s Naksan area and Ikseon-dong

Since the weather turned warmer on this day, we decided to go explore the area around Naksan Park in the morning, followed by Ikseon-dong in the afternoon.

We wanted to visit Naksan Park for the views of Seoul city from the summit of Naksan and also the see the Seoul fortress wall that had been featured in many k-dramas and movies.

We took the bus to Daehak-ro, near the Hyehwa Subway Station and Marronnier Park. This area is nice to visit before making our way up to Naksan Park.

Marronnier Park along Daehak-ro.

Naksan Park is nice to visit in autumn. We spend time taking photos of the landscape along the Seoul Fortress Wall. Seoul fortress wall at Naksan.

There is a walking trail along the Seoul Seonggwak (fortress wall) stretching about 2 km from Hyehwamun to Heunginjimun, the East Gate of Seoul. The walk down to Heunginjimun is particularly nice in autumn with views of the city and vast fields of silver autumn grass.

Heunginjimun, the East Gate of Seoul, at Dongdaemun.

We also spent time exploring Ihwa Mural Village. There are some nice cafes there that is worth a visit.

After visiting Naksan Park, we went to shop for some toys and gifts at Dongdaemun Stationery and Toy Street. This vibrant alleyway is home to nearly 120 shops selling toys, stationery, and party goods.

Trip report: Exploring Seoul – Daehak-ro, Naksan Park and Toy Street.

From Dongdaemun, we took a bus to Ikseon-dong for lunch and also to check out the famous cafes. This area has many trendy boutiques, themed cafes, restaurants and pubs.

Narrow alleyway lined with cafes, restaurants and boutiques in Ikseon-dong.

Steak pot rice at Damsot Ikseon for lunch.

Dessert at Cafe Onhwa Ikseon.

We ended our visit to Ikseon-dong and also food tour in South Korea with dinner at Jangsu Samgyetang restaurant. This restaurant is a highly recommended for their delicious and value-for-money samgyetang.

Samgyetang, or Korean ginseng chicken soup, is a nourishing dish featuring a whole young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, garlic, jujubes, and ginseng.

Trip report: Exploring Ikseon-dong Hanok Village.

Day 8 (21 November 2025) – Travel to airport

From Myeongdong, we took the 6015 Airport Limousine bus to Incheon International Airport. This bus runs directly from Myeongdong to Incheon Airport (T1/T2), taking roughly 60 to 85 minutes, depending on traffic conditions.

Personally I prefer the bus to the train since we need not lug our suitcases up and down the stairs to the train station. We chose to stay at a hotel (Ibis Ambassador Myeongdong) that has the limousine bus stop to the airport at its doorstep!

Travel from Incheon International Airport to Jeonju Hanok Village

2026-01-10T09:31:00.000+08:00

14 November 2025

We planned to stay a couple of days in a hanok located within Jeonju Hanok Village after our arrival to South Korea. The distance between Incheon International Airport (ICN) and Jeonju city is about 242 km. There are various ways to travel from Incheon International Airport to Jeonju Hanok Village.

The fastest way to get from Incheon International Airport (ICN) to Jeonju is to drive but I did not plan to get a rental car on this trip.

Alternatively, we could take a train from the airport to Jeonju Hanok Village via Seoul Station, Gwangmyeong Station, and Jeonju Station in around 4.5 hours. From there, we would have to take a taxi to the Jeonju Hanok Village.

We chose the best and also cheapest way to get from Incheon Airport (ICN) to Jeonju which was by express bus which costs $28 - $40 and takes slightly over 3 hours. The bus terminal is located close to the Jeonju Hanok Village.

Our flight arrived as scheduled and by the time we cleared immigration, it was around 8 AM. The bus ticket counter and ticketing machines was just outside the gate in the arrival hall.

We chose to go to the ticket counter as there were queues on the ticketing machines. I was telling my wife that Jeonju is pronounced as “Cheonju” just like Jeju is pronounced as Cheju by the Koreans.

It was 8.08 AM when we got our tickets and the ticket seller told us to hurry as the bus is leaving at 8.10 am from the bus bay nearby.

With the tickets on hand, we rushed to the bus stops for the various limousine buses, located just outside the arrival hall of the airport. We managed to catch the bus on time. The good thing about taking the limousine bus is that our suitcases are loaded onto the luggage compartment on the side of the bus and we need not lug them up to our seats. The express buses are also very spacious with comfortable reclinable seats.

Interior of the Express Bus with 3 reclinable seats per row.

The bus left immediately after we boarded. I was feeling a bit uneasy since the bus fare was slightly lower than what I had expected. On inspecting our tickets, it showed our destination as Cheongju!

We are going to Cheongju?

It was good that we had internet connections on our mobile phones. After a bit of googling, I found that there is actually a city called Cheongju and the ticket seller had sold us tickets to Cheongju instead of Jeonju!

With the language barrier and the fact that the bus is an express bus with no stops in between, we figured that we had no choice but to ride the bus all the way to Cheongju. It was a good thing Cheongju is actually located in between Seoul and Jeonju so we are heading in the right direction although there was a slight detour.

Fortunately, there was an Intercity bus from Cheongju to Jeonju leaving at 10.50 AM from the same bus terminal and we would be in time to catch this bus, if there is no further setback.

The ride to Cheongju took slightly over 2 hours. The ride on the airport express bus was very comfortable. After the clamp conditions in the plane, the spacious seats with plenty of legroom to stretch out felt so good.

We arrived at the Cheongju Intercity Bus Terminal as scheduled. I was happy to see the clear blue sky and the rows of yellow gingko trees lining the streets in Cheongju. It looked like our timing was just about perfect for autumn leaves viewing. Like the year before, the weather in 2025 had been warmer than usual, so autumn has been delayed by a few weeks.

Rows of yellow gingko trees at Cheongju.

We managed to book our tickets for the 10.50 AM Intercity bus to Jeonju at the Cheongju Intercity Bus Terminal. This time, I made sure we got the destination right.

Our intercity bus tickets from Cheongju to Jeonju.

Although the distance between Cheongju and Jeonju is only about 115 km, the ride to Jeonju took slightly over 2 hours as the bus is not an express bus and made a few stops at Daejeon city along the route. We finally arrived at the Jeonju Intercity Bus Terminal at about 1 PM. From there, we took a short 15 minutes taxi ride to the Jeonju Hanok Village.

Jeonju Hanok Village with 700 traditional hanoks.

Our accommodation in Jeonju Hanok Village was the Star Rest Guesthouse located in the southern edge of the village and just a few metres walk from the paved roads running through the village.

Overall, our journey from the airport to Jeonju by express bus which was supposed to take about 3.5 hours and cost about 33,000 KRW took 5 hours and cost us a bit more instead. It was not a good start to our holiday but thankfully, the rest of our stay in Korea went as planned.

Lesson learnt: Show the intended destination in Korean text AND English text to the train or bus ticket seller, instead of trying to speak the language.

Alternatively, use the ticket machines which have English language option.

Our stay at a hanok in Jeonju Hanok Village

2026-01-08T14:59:00.000+08:00

14 and 15 November 2025

Jeonju has the largest hanok village in Korea and we chose to stay 2 nights in Star Rest Hanok. It is a charming, traditional Korean guesthouse located on the southern edge of the famous Jeonju Hanok Village.

Cobbled stone alleyway outside Star Rest Hanok.

Entrance to Star Rest Hanok.

The hanok came with modern comforts like ondol (heated floors) and private bathrooms.

Typical entrance to our room in a hanok. A place to sit to remove our footwear before entering.

The family that owns the business does not stay at the guesthouse. I had contacted them via KakaoTalk (with Google Translate) the day before to inform them of our expected arrival time so the host would meet us at the guesthouse when we arrive. Due to our boo-boo when travelling to Jeonju from the airport, we arrived 2 hours later than expected. I had to inform them of our unplanned delay. Thankfully, he received our message and even replied with a “please not to rush and travel safe”.

The hanok is located on the edge of the hanok village so it was easy to access. The hanok owner was waiting for us inside the hanok. He was an elderly man who speaks a bit of English that is well enough for us to understand him.

During check-in, he gave us some tourist information on recommended sights within the hanok village and also within Jeonju city. He also suggested some famous Jeonju cuisine and places to eat.

It is traditional to sit on the heated floor inside a hanok instead of chairs and table.

Chatting with the friendly hanok owner in the courtyard outside our room where he showed us some of his wooden carvings and calligraphy skills.

Entrance to our room. The wooden doors are secured using a simple padlock.

Calligraphy brushes.

He proudly told us he did the calligraphy displayed outside our room and demonstrated his calligraphy skills by writing his name in Chinese text 郑 with a large brush on a slab of stone on the ground. That was when we found out that his family name is the same as my wife's.

Carving by the owner with his name at the left lower edge.

Our room is fairly large and has an attached bathroom with WC and shower.

One downside of staying in a hanok is that there are no sofas and we had to sit and sleep on futons laid on the heated floor (ondol).

The owner showed us where the futons are kept and also explained how to set them up for our sleep at night.

Compared to thick mattresses found at home or in a standard hotel room, the futons were a bit hard to sleep on. For me, I was able to have a good night sleep on them.

Sitting and sleeping on the heated floor is part and parcel of the Korean floor-based living culture. Winter in Korea is very cold. In the old days, a small, wood-burning furnace (or stove) was typically located in an adjoining room, often the kitchen, and built at a lower level than the heated room. The hot air and smoke are channeled through horizontal flues beneath a thick masonry floor, which then radiated heat through the floor to the room. This ingeniously simple design provided efficient and long-lasting warmth to the floor of the house.

Today, the floor is heated using electricity with the temperature control mounted on the wall. The heated floor was quite effective in keeping the room warm. In fact, my wife found the floor a little too warm and we had to turn the heating down in the middle of the night.

The next morning, I made some hot drinks for breakfast using the self-service pantry in the common area. The pantry is well stock and has everything we need to make hot drinks for breakfast.

It is usual for the locals to sit on the verandah of a hanok for meals. Although the morning was a little chilly, it was a nice experience.

Hot coffee and PNB choco-pies for a light breakfast snack.

Enjoying the ambience of the hanok.

Main gate of the hanok right outside our room.

Just when we were about to head out to explore the village, the owner showed up. I had a chat with him and enquired about the ease of getting a taxi from the hanok village in the morning. I told him that I planned to check out at 7 AM the next day, get a taxi to the Jeonju Express Bus terminal to catch the 8.10 AM bus to Gwangju.

He was keen to help us arrange for a taxi but told us he would not be able to come so early in the morning. Being the helpful person, he requested help from a gentleman sweeping the floor of the alleyway outside our hanok to help book taxi for us the next day.

This person is actually the owner of hanok next door. He told us he would meet us outside our hanok at 7.30 AM the next morning to help us call for a taxi. The ride to the bus terminal would take about 15 minutes and we should be in time to catch our bus.

With that arrangement done, we thanked the two men and went out to enjoy our day in the hanok village.

When we returned in the evening, we found a basket full of goodies in our room.

This was left in our room when we returned to our room at the end of Day 2. Perfect drinks and snacks for our breakfast before checking out early the next morning.

The next morning, we were ready to go by 7 AM. Our hanok is located near to the Jeonju stream. Since we were early, we went to the river side to snap some photos.

Sunrise at Jeonju.

At 7.20 AM, the neighbour showed up. He helped call for a taxi using a mobile app on his phone. 10 minutes later, the taxi arrived. The kind gentleman even helped load our luggage into the taxi before bidding us goodbye.

We made it to the express bus terminal as planned. Tickets for the buses can be booked in advance online but it would be challenging for tourists who do not have access to the local payment systems. Hence we had to book our tickets at the bus terminal on the day of travel.

We managed to book the last 2 tickets for the bus to Gwangju! We knew it was the last 2 tickets because we were seated in the last row of the bus. Lucky us.

Last 2 tickets on the 8.10 AM express bus from Jeonju to Gwangju.

We left Jeonju with warm feeling in our hearts. We had good experiences in our hanok stay. We had wonderful interactions with friendly people who provided local tips, warm hospitality and go out of their way to make our stay comfortable.

Exploring Jeonju Hanok Village – Day 1

2026-01-07T22:12:00.000+08:00

14 November 2025

On this relatively short trip to South Korea, I chose to include Jeonju in my itinerary. Jeonju has the largest hanok village in Korea and is deeply tied to Korea's Joseon Dynasty. Jeonju was the ancestral home of the Yi clan, the family of King Taejo (Yi Seong-gye), who founded the Joseon Dynasty, making it a significant place for the royal lineage. Many historical k-dramas featuring stories in the Joseon era were filmed in this city.

Jeonju is also a city with plenty of food tradition. Bibimbap, one of the most representative food of Korea, was born out of Jeonju and the region of Jeollado-province, where the city is located. Since we appreciate good food, we made it a point to research where are the places serving the best local cuisine.

While Jeonju could be visited as a day-trip from Seoul, we planned to stay a couple of days in a hanok located within Jeonju Hanok Village. We cannot come to Jeonju Hanok Village and not experience a stay in a traditional hanok.

Getting to Jeonju from the airport.

The distance between Incheon International Airport (ICN) and Jeonju city is about 242 km and we took the limousine bus from the airport to Jeonju. The trip should take slightly over 3 hours. Due to some miscommunication at the airport, we spend additional 2 hours of travel time. Read about our little boo-boo here.

We arrived at about 1 PM at the Jeonju Intercity Bus Terminal. From the bus terminal, it was easy to get a short 15 minutes taxi ride (cost 6,300 KRW) to our hanok.

Where we stayed in Jeonju

Entrance to the Starrest Hanok.

We chose to stay for 2 nights in Star Rest Hanok. It is a charming, traditional Korean guesthouse located on the southern edge of the famous Jeonju Hanok Village. More about our stay at Star Rest Hanok is in this separate post.

Lunch at Veteran Kalguksu (베테랑)

We had a late lunch at Veteran Kalguksu restaurant. This is a popular restaurant, operating since 1977, serving cheap and good food. It is known for its signature hot, savory knife-cut noodle soup with a rich, eggy broth, perilla seed, and seaweed.

Even though it was past the lunch hour, the restaurant was packed but we were offered a table immediately.

Their menu had hot kalguksu noodles (kalguksu), cold spicy noodles (Jjolmyeon) and dumplings (mandu) with either pork or kimchi fillings. We ordered the hot noodles and dumplings.

The noodles served here were chewy and al dente. The best thing I love was the savory broth with egg stirred in, topped with perilla seed powder, Korean chilli powder and roasted seaweed laver.

The menu includes half and half for the dumplings, so we got to try both. The dough used for the dumplings were nice and soft, and the fillings with pork and chopped vegetables were delicious.

This was perfect comfort food after a long journey by red-eye flight from Singapore and long bus rides from the airport.

Enjoy a walk through the hanok village and the autumn leaves!

Autumn is one of the best times to visit South Korea.

After lunch, we took a walk down the main street to the Gyeonggijeon Shrine. This place houses the portrait of King Taejo, founder of the Joseon dynasty. We planned to visit the shrine and the Portrait Museum on Day 2, so we just enjoyed views of the beautiful gingko trees outside the shrine and in the rest of the village.

Yellow leaves of the gingko trees outside the Gyeonggijeon Shrine.

We were glad that we came at almost the right time to enjoy the peak of the autumn foliage.

Many shops offering rentals of traditional clothes.

Many visitors to Jeonju Hanok Village, both male and female, were dressed in traditional clothes and hanboks. The whole place looked like the set of a period k-drama. In fact, many k-dramas filmed within the hanok village.

Visitors dressed in colourful hanboks.

Omokdae and Imokdae

After a mini-photo shoot outside the Gyeonggijeon Shrine, we went to Omokdae for the overview of Jeonju Hanok Village. Omokdae is a historical site located on top of a steep hill but the walk up to the site was easy and pleasant.

Stone signage marking the entrance to Jeonju Hanok Village on the way to Omokdae.

Omokdae is one of the places where Yi Seong-gye, who later became King Taejo, threw a party to celebrate his victory from a war against the Japanese army in 1380.

Pavilion at Omokdae.

Typical Korean architecture.

We had to take off our shoes before walking on the wooden floor of the pavilion.

The small hut houses the tablet with engraved writings of King Gojong, the second last emperor of the Joseon Dynasty.

Autumn foliage at the Omokdae.

Beside the beautiful pavilion and appreciating the historical significance of this site, visitors could also capture photographs of the roofs of the hanoks below.

Unfortunately, the vegetation was quite dense and I could not capture the entire hanok village.

There is a pedestrian bridge nearby that leads from Omokdae to the Imokdae Historic Site, situated at the edge of the Jaman Mural Village. We did not go to Imokdae, only viewing it from a distance.

Imokdae has another small hut housing a tablet with engraved writings of King Gojong, the second last emperor of the Joseon Dynasty.

Jaman Mural Village (자만벽화마을)

The Jaman Mural Village is a colorful village filled with murals along its walls. This is a residential area so we made it a point to speak softly and just enjoy the murals of nostalgic anime characters, celebrities, fairytale scenes, floral patterns, and creative local art.

The village is located on the side of a mountain so there are many narrow alleys that goes up and down within this village.

Entering from Omokdae meant we are entering the village from the top end which made our exploration a little easier since we are walking mostly downwards.

Here are some of the murals that we found interesting.

Spot the celebrities.

A good place to stop for a break was at this beautifully decorated cafe, with an ET character inside.

Common rule in Korean cafe is that we have to buy at least one drink per person.

View from the terrace.

Initially we sat on a terrace outside to enjoy the views of the landscape. We could see trees with leaves turning red and orange and also a couple of trees with no leaves but laden with ripe, orange-coloured persimmons in the village.

Later on, we moved inside the cafe to enjoy the ambience of the beautifully decorated sitting area with lots of toys and paintings on the walls.

The cafe is located somewhat in the mid-level of the mural village. There are still plenty of murals to enjoy after our break.

Here are more murals that we saw on our way down to the “entrance” of the Jaman Mural Village.

Overall, Jaman Mural Village is a nice place to visit for photos and chilling at a cafe.

Hanbyeokgul Tunnel - filming location of k-drama Twenty-Five Twenty-One

The sun was beginning to set when we went to see the Hanbyeokgul Tunnel, located a short walk from the Jaman Mural Village. This tunnel gained fame as a filming location for the popular series "Twenty-Five Twenty-One" and since we are k-drama fans, this place is worth a visit.

Even for non k-drama fans, this tunnel is worth a visit. This historic horseshoe-shaped tunnel was actually built during the Japanese colonial period (1929-1931) as a railway tunnel and is located near to some scenic spots, Hanbyeokdang Pavilion and the Jeonju Natural Ecology Museum.

It was good we visited at dusk so the lights in the tunnel were turned on.

Recreating an iconic scene from the drama. The tunnel was a backdrop for heartfelt conversations between the main characters in the drama.

The tunnel is still actively in used, so we had to look out for vehicular traffic while taking our photos. The road to the tunnel is narrow, so the occasional cars that used the tunnel were all going at a slow speed. So, generally it was quite safe to set up our camera on a tripod for a photo.

The tunnel is located near the Jeonjucheon stream that flows on the south side of the hanok village.

Nice walk by the stream, except for some insects that came out at dusk.

Nice autumn foliage on trees by the stream.

Located just above the Hanbyeokgul Tunnel is the Hanbyeokdang Pavilion. Historically, it seems that this was a popular spot for Joseon Dynasty scholars to compose poetry, paint, and contemplate the landscape.

The Hanbyeokdang Pavilion offers nice views of the landscape.

We also found the house used by the main female lead in the "Twenty-Five Twenty-One" k-drama. Google Map location here. Address is 5-19 Omokdae-gil.

House used as the home of Na-Hee-do, the main female character in the k-drama.

My wife could remember the many times the female lead Na-Hee-do (played by actress Kim Tae-ri in this drama) ran up and down these steps.

Bibimbap Dinner at Hankook Jib

Our dinner was at Hankook Jib as recommended by the hanok owner. This restaurant was actually one of the restaurants I had shortlisted for eating the bibimbap.

Bibimbap is a Korean dish with rice and various toppings including different kinds of vegetables and sometimes raw beef (yukhoe) and raw egg yolk.

We tried the Jeonju bibimbap and yukhoe bibimbap.

Yukhoe Bibimbap with raw minced beef.

Jeonju Bibimbap.

Hankook Jib also serves us 6 side dishes or banchan.

Hot Korean red pepper paste (gochujang) is added to taste. All needs to be mixed well before eating.

They both looked and tasted quite similar after mixing, which indicates that the seasoning for the raw beef was not so strong.

Since we wanted to try the local cuisine, we also ordered the moju (literally “mother's wine”) which is a Jeonju makgeolli (rice wine) with medicinal herbs like jujube, ginger and cinnamon.

The moju was served in a large bowl.

The muddy coloured moju tasted sweet, with a slightly tangy taste from the ginger and cinnamon. It was easy to drink and had a very low alcohol level, typically 1.5% or less.

After dinner, the walk back to our hanok was quite chilly. We stopped by a PNB store to briefly escape the cold and buy their famous choco-pie. PNB is supposed to be the originator of this iconic Jeonju dessert.

Classic flavour choco-pie for our breakfast the next day.

There are many flavours to choose from. We bought the classic flavour to try. The staff told us the pies must be eaten within a few days, so we did not buy them as souvenirs to bring home.

We also got to see the Jeondong Cathedral all lit up at night.

Jeondong Cathedral is located near the entrance to the Jeonju Hanok Village. The cathedral is built on the site where martyrs were executed in the Joseon Dynasty. We will learn more about the history behind this western-looking building in the traditional Korean village the next day.

Exploring Jeonju Hanok Village – Day 2

2026-01-04T22:36:00.000+08:00

15 November 2025

We started the day with a morning walk along the Jeonjucheon River that has a couple of historic structures overlooking the river. They are the Cheongyeonru Pavilion and the Namcheongyo Bridge.

Next to the river is a walking/cycling trail that is popular with the fitness-crazy locals. The sun was barely up and I could spy many Jeonju residents jogging and walking along this trail.

Sun peeping above the roof of the Cheongyeonru Pavilion, built in the middle of the Namcheongyo Bridge.

Namcheongyo Bridge is the main bridge to the south entrance of Jeonju Hanok Village.

The riverside is especially beautiful in autumn when the reeds are flowering.

There are stepping stones across the stream.

Best place to photograph the stream, bridge and pavilion is on the middle of the stepping stones.

Morning market along the Jeonju stream

We took a slow walk towards the Jeonju Nambu Market and chanced upon a morning market by the river. This street market opens for a short period from 4 AM to 10 AM in the morning and is called the ‘Dawn Goblin Market.’

Pop-up stalls lined the trail along the stream, across from Nambu Market.

I love to visit local markets as I get to see the local farm produce and what the local people enjoy buying. Fresh food from wholesale markets, fruits and vegetables grown by local farmers are traded here.

Farmer wheeling a load of large radishes to the morning market.

Garlic is a key ingredient in Korean cooking.

Persimmons are in season during autumn.

We noticed most of the sellers are elderly women.

Ginseng and other herbs.

Nambu Market

Nambu Market is the largest among Jeonju traditional markets. It has many things to see, enjoy and eat. Nambu Market was formed by the markets that stood and gathered around Pungnammun Gate, the only remaining gate among the four main gates of Jeonju that faces the four directions of the compass. The name implies that this was the southern gate.

Most people coming from the hanok village will enter Nambu Market from the market’s front gate, located next to the Pungnammun Gate. For us, we entered from the south gate facing the river.

Southern entrance to Nambu Market, facing the river.

The market is a covered market with little alleyways criss-crossing the area.

There are stalls selling woven wood basket and woven rice colander spoon, handmade cast iron cauldron, and craftsmen-style wood furniture and tableware. These are interesting to look at but not for us to buy.

Interesting to see the kitchenware and household items used in Korea.

We went to search for the famous Hyundaiok stall serving rice soup with bean sprouts or Kongnamul Gukbap, one of the Jeonju’s renowned delicacies. Jeonju is famous for its unique, flavorful bean sprouts, particularly those grown in clean local spring water. Crisp and savoury, they are the star ingredients in the city's signature dish.

The dish is consumed by the locals as a hangover soup if they drank too much soju or makgeolli the previous night.

Hyundaiok is located in a narrow alleyway but was easy to find with the help of Google map or Naver Map.

There is limited seating for around 10 people inside. We managed to get seats immediately since we came early. This popular stall will usually have a queue later in the day. We noticed people queuing outside when we left.

There are some seats at the counter where you could interact with the sellers and watch them prepare your meal.

The menu is simple. The standard Kongnamul Gukbap is 8000 KRW per bowl. The Kongnamul Gukbap uses lots and lots of super long bean sprouts. For those who want some protein with the dish, squid can be added to the dish for an additional 2000 KRW.

We ordered 2 bowls of gukbap with added diced squid. The squid added some umami and chewy texture to the dish but I would skip it if I were to eat this again. The soup was already very good without the squid.

The stall also serves up 4 side dishes or banchan that includes tiny fermented salted shrimps and 3 types of kimchi.

Each bowl of gukbap came with 2 semi-cooked eggs in a bowl. This stall was featured in a Netflix documentary on Korean food and I learnt what to do with the eggs.

The seafood soup came with half-cooked eggs and there is a recommended method to eat it here.

We added a few tablespoons of the boiling hot broth from the gukbap to the eggs to further cook it. There are packets of laver on the dining table. We also crushed some of the laver and added them to the eggs. Stir well and slurp the tasty, warm sticky mixture to warm the stomach.

Jeonju eggs, ready to eat.

Since I like to eat soft-boiled eggs, I enjoyed the eggs with added taste from the broth.

Rice is at the bottom of the gukbap.

This was my first time to try Kongnamul Gukbap or Korean beansprout soup and we loved it. It was a value for money, tasty breakfast. Highly recommended, even if we were not suffering a hangover.

Tip: My hanok host also recommended another restaurant serving this tasty dish. It is at Waeng I Kongnamul-gukbap, located just outside of the Jeonju Hanok Village.

After enjoying our breakfast, we continued a leisurely exploration of the market. We bought a pyjamas for 10,000 KRW from one of the clothing stalls.

We were tempted to buy some “ajumma” pants and tops but thankfully didn’t.

Fermented fish.

Barrels full of Saeujeot or fermented salted shrimps. A key ingredient for making kimchi.

We also walked by another restaurant that our hanok owner recommended. This restaurant serves the sundae (blood sausage) gukbap, another Jeonju delicacy. Pork offal (liver, stomach and heart), meat and sundae are boiled in an earthenware bowl and served with rice added to the soup.

Famous stall serving sundae gukbap in Nambu Market. But we were too full to eat more gukbap.

Pungnammun Gate

Leaving Nambu Market, we headed towards Jeonju Hanok Village. Located in the middle of a traffic roundabout is an impressive structure. This is Pungnammun Gate, built during the Joseon dynasty.

Pungnammun Gate with remaining sections of the fortress wall that used to surround and protect Jeonju.

It stands as the last remaining gate of the four that were once part of Jeonju's fortress walls. There is no access to the gate structure and its walled ramparts.

There are many gingko trees planted on the side of the roads leading to the gate and the area was beautiful in autumn.

Gyeonggijoen Shrine

The place we wanted to visit in the hanok village is the Gyeonggijoen Shrine. It cost 3,000 KRW per person to enter this historic site. The shrine holds the portrait of King Tae-jo, the founder of the Joseon dynasty.

Trees with colourful autumn foliage outside the Gyeonggijoen Shrine.

Best time to visit is in autumn with the autumn foliage all over the site.

We could sense a bit of bitterness in her when she explained how the shrine that was first erected in 1410 was partially destroyed during Imjin War (1592-1598). It was rebuilt and damaged again. The existing structure was rebuild again in 1614.

We walked through a series of gates to the Jeongjeon Hall (Main Hall) located at the heart of Gyeonggijeon. It is a beautiful mid-Joseon structure with a gabled roof, housing a replica of King Taejo's portrait.

Hongsalmun, leading to the hall containing the King’s Portrait.

The roof is nicely painted with figures of auspicious animals such as bats! Bats are considered lucky in Chinese and Korean culture.

The portrait of the king displayed here is a replica. Not surprising.

Jeonjusago Archives

The guide then brought the group to a small hut called the Jeonju Sago or the Jeonju History Archive. The Jeonju Sago wooden building was specially designed and constructed with raised floor to provide good ventilation and avoid dampness. It now housed copies of Joseon Wangjo Sillok (Annals of the Joseon Dynasty).

During the Joseon era, journals were kept of the king's daily activities by palace scribes. It was interesting to learn from the guide that the King is not privy to what was written in these annals so it would be unbiased.

Much information about the Joseon era are gained from these journals. It was fortunate that the journals were hidden in the nearby mountains of Naejangsan and Myohyangsan and safe from destruction during Japanese colonial days.

This Jeonju Sago building which holds the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty appears in episode 10 of “Love in the Moonlight.” k-drama.

Royal Portrait Museum

The tour ended outside the Royal Portrait Museum and we were encouraged to view the exhibits within on our own.

This museum exhibits the original portraits of Joseon kings and other relics like royal palanquins used during the enshrinement of King Taejo’s portrait in 1872.

The highlight is the portrait of King Tae-jo that was reproduced in 1872 by not 1, not 2 but 10 artists!

Portrait of King Tae-jo with him wearing the familiar blue dragon robe that we saw a lot in k-dramas. This is usually a replica, with the original shown during select periods.

The portraits of other successive kings such as Sun-jong, Cheol-jong, Yeong-jo and many others.

The museum also showcases how the portrait was moved from Seoul to Jeonju over 8 days. There was a long procession, with guards, horses and palanquins, that resembles the travel of an actual king.

The palanquin carrying the royal portrait.

A procession of King Tae-jo’s portrait made with traditional Korean paper.

The actual box containing the portrait.

Details of the travel are all documented by scribes.

There was a section showing how artists create the replica paintings. It was interesting to see that paint was applied on both sides of the canvas.

Paints and tools used to create replicas of the portraits.

Coloured paint are applied to both the front and back of the silk portrait.

There are other interesting Joseon era buildings to explore within the grounds of the Gyeonggijeon Shrine. The annex of Gyeonggijeon Shrine includes servants’ dormitory, horse barn, mill, kitchen and ritual houses.

Many visitors were dressed in hanboks and doing photoshoot between and within these buildings. Many of these buildings were actually used to film movies and dramas depicting the Joseon era, such as the drama “Love in the Moonlight.”

Lush trees and bamboo surround the structures, creating a peaceful atmosphere for exploration and photography.

The trees are extremely nice in autumn.

Bamboo grove and gate used as a backdrop in the k-drama “Love in the Moonlight.”

Lunch at Jeondong Ddeokgalbi

Leaving the shrine, we walked along the Gyeonggijeon Stone Wall Road to the Jeondong Ddeokgalbi restaurant.

Jeondong Ddeokgalbi in Jeonju is a popular spot for delicious bibimbap and traditional Korean dishes. We ordered the beef bulgogi bibimbap, tteokgalbi, and a bottle of makgeolli.

Tteokgalbi is a popular Korean dish of sweet and savory grilled short rib patties, resembling burgers. It is juicy and sweeter in seasoning.

The tteokgalbi is juicy inside and quite tasty.

The bibimbap topped with flavorful beef and vegetables.

Eight delightful side dishes, rice and a bowl of soup are included.

Changing of the Guards Ceremony

We went back to the entrance of Gyeonggijeon Shrine after lunch. We were just in time to catch the “changing of the guard” ceremony.

The guards are dresses in traditional Joseon era uniforms.

Protected by the imperial guards.

Jeonju Hanok Alley Tour

We joined the free hanok village alley tour at 3 PM. The meeting point for this tour is outside the entrance of the Gyeonggijeon Shrine.

There are roughly 700 traditional Korean homes that remain in the village today and we figured it would be good to join the tour instead of wandering around aimlessly.

Our small tour group consists of visitors from many countries. Most of them, like us, had attended the earlier 11 AM tour of the Gyeonggijeon Shrine.

The English speaking guide explained the Jeonju used to be surrounded by a stone city wall with 4 gates. Only the south gate remained and Taejo-ro road, just outside the Gyeonggijeon Shrine leading to the gate, used to be part of the city wall.

Across the street from the Gyeonggijeon Shrine is the Jeondong Catholic Church. Unfortunately, we were unable to enter on this day. Standing outside the church, our guide told us how the Catholic religion was started in Korea. Not by preachers. Instead the local people learnt about it from generic western documents from China’s Ming dynasty that had contact with western countries.

Early catholics were persecuted due to conflicts with Confucianism ancestor worship practices. The church was built on grounds where several catholic martyrs were executed, just outside the city wall. The wall is now demolished. Ironically, the stone from the walls is said to be used as material for the church.

We visited a few places of interest within the hanok village during the tour. This includes the Hagindang, a 600 year old gingko tree, pansori museum, home of last prince of Joseon and even a house with 3 flags (Korean, France and USA) flying outside.

Our guide with us outside Hagindang.

Hagindang is the oldest traditional Korean house in Jeonju Hanok Village and is now operating as a luxury guesthouse. It was used a filming location of a Korean drama series “Mr Sunshine”. Unfortunately we are not allowed to go in.

The 600 year old gingko tree is located along Eunhaeng-ro. Our guide told us to take 5 deep breaths to fill our mind with good luck, health and happiness.

Picking up a leaf from a 600 year old gingko tree located along Eunhaeng-ro.

Walking along a narrow alley to a house with 3 flags on the roof.

The house with 3 flags is known as the House of Four Doctorate Degrees.

The occupants of the house (3 sons and son-in-law) graduated with Doctorate degrees from universities in Korea, France and USA.

Some of the narrow alleyways inside the hanok village.

We also saw the home of last of
prince of Joseon. He was treated like normal man and even served in the Vietnam War (Korea sent troops to support the US forces during this war).

Seunggwangjae, the traditional Hanok in the Jeonju Hanok Village, is the house of the last prince Yi Seok.

Our tour ended near Omokdae. We then took a walk to Jeonju hyanggyo where there are many gingko trees inside.

View of Na-Hee Do’s house on the way to Jeonju Hyanggyo.

Jeonju Hyanggyo

Jeonjuhyanggyo is a Confucian school that was established during the Joseon dynasty. The school was originally located at the Gyeonggijeon Shrine site, but was relocated in 1603.

Many k-dramas were filmed in this historic site.

We came to see the many yellow gingko trees planted within. The place was quite crowded and many visitors were snapping photos of the trees, lit by the warm glow of the setting sun.

The site is popular for its 400-year-old ginkgo tree in the front yard, and is most beautiful in fall.

Plenty of gingko trees with yellow autumn leaves.

Another matured gingko tree in the courtyard.

Jeonjuhyanggyo was a good place to rest and relax till it was time for dinner.

Dinner at Gyodong Tteokgalbi

We ended our exploration of the hanok village with dinner at Gyodong Tteokgalbi. No, not another bibimbap and tteokgalbi restaurant!

Actually, we wanted to eat at Monsieur Patate, a pizza restaurant. It was full-house by the time we got there. So, we did some research and chose to go to Gyodong Tteokgalbi based on its good reviews.

By now, we had our fill of bibimbap. We ordered their signature tteokgalbi that was quite delicious.

Set of Tteokgalbi for 2 that came with side dishes, soup and rice.

After dinner, we went back to our hanok and received a pleasant surprise. The hanok owner, knowing we are leaving Jeonju very early the next morning, left us some goodies in a little basket as a parting gift.

Day trip to Damyang Bamboo Garden (Juknokwon) from Gwangju

2026-01-02T22:43:00.000+08:00

16 November 2025

Having experienced the crowds at Japan’s Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, a chance to visit Korea’s massive bamboo forest without the crowds is not to be missed. Juknokwon (namely Bamboo Garden) is the most famous bamboo forest in South Korea and is certainly worth a visit.

Unlike the natural bamboo forest in Arashiyama, Juknokwon is a cultivated bamboo forest that is 310,000 square meters in size and was opened in 2005. Within the dense bamboo forest, there are many walking trails for those looking to enjoy peaceful walks close to nature and snapping photos without the crowds.

Located in Damyang, the Bamboo Garden is best accessed from the city of Gwangju by bus. The local bus 311 from Gwangju goes right to the entrance of the garden but the journey will take about an hour.

We planned to stay a couple of nights in Gwangju after visiting Jeonju. We left Jeonju Hanok Village early in the morning and caught the 8.10 AM express bus from Jeonju’s express bus terminal to Gwangju’s bus terminal.

Gwangju Bus Terminal, also known as U-Square, is Gwangju's main, modern transportation hub combining a large express bus terminal with extensive shopping, dining and entertainment. We left our luggage in the storage lockers within the bus terminal, planning to collect them after our day trip to Damyang. There were sufficient storage lockers for our 2 medium size suitcases.

The bus stop for the local bus 311 to Damyang is right outside U Square. This rather long bus stop serves many local buses, so we had to wait at the correct place. The signage was pretty clear. We saw several other tourists waiting for the same bus.

Unlike other local buses where we just tap our T-money card on the card readers when we board and alight, the grumpy driver demanded to know our destination when we boarded the bus so he could deduct the correct fare. I don’t speak Korean but fortunately, I know the name of the bamboo garden is called “Juk-nok-won” in Korean, so we were alright. The fare was 3700 KRW and I was extremely glad that our T-money cards, last used in 2014, still work!

Tip: If you don’t speak Korean, show the driver the printed name of Juknokwon (죽녹원).

We managed to get seats for the hour long bus ride. Bus 311 is a local bus that made many stops along the journey (including a stop at the Damyang Intercity Bus Terminal) but it took us right to the entrance of Juknokwon.

This was what we saw once we alighted from the bus. The Juknokwon is right across the road.

Since it was lunch time when we arrived, we decided to take our lunch first. We reckoned it would take us a couple of hours to explore the massive bamboo garden so it is better to fill our tummy first.

There are many restaurants next to the river that flowed on the south side of Juknokwon. Damyang is famous for its noodle dishes, evident by the fact that they have an entire street dedicated to it called Noodle Street.

We went to the nearest restaurant and had a simple lunch consisting of noodles and 2 hard boiled “herbal” eggs that had little or no herbal flavour.

Noodles in anchovy broth.

Soy sauce bibim noodles.

The noodles, while tasty, have no meat protein in them. On hindsight, we should have ordered the set which came with some grilled fish or pork for 3000 KRW more per person. In any case, we enjoyed our simple lunch in this clean restaurant located by the river.

This bamboo forest is open all year round. Autumn is a nice time to visit as it is cooler and less humid.

Gate to the Juknokwon. Entrance fee is 3000 KRW per adult and is sold near the entrance.

The Bonghwangru pavilion that we saw from the bus-stop is located near the entrance.

Upon entry, we went to the Bonghwangru pavilion. There are maps showing the walking trails within the bamboo garden and also other attractions in Damyang such as the Metasequoia Road and Gwanbangjerim Forest.

There are 8 themed trails with fancy names such as the Good Luck Road, Meditation Road and Lover’s Lane. The trails intersected each other at various places so we could actually just wander in the general direction to the far end of the garden and then make our way back to entrance using other routes.

Plenty of shade with the bamboo forest.

Sign posts were frequently seen highlighting the many Korean movies and dramas filmed within the site.

There are pavilions, hammocks and lounge chairs made from bamboo along the trails.

There are many visitors on this weekend but the forest is massive. So it was easy to wait a while to get photos without the crowds.

There are interesting things to see and do along the trails. A device to test our age, based on the size of your tummy.

Bamboo is the main food for the pandas. So, some pandas were seen in the forest.

There is even a local legend to learn at the bamboo forest.

Story board explaining the legend of the King with donkey ears.

According to legend, King Gyeongmun of the Silla was born with hideously large ears, like those of donkeys. He was forced to hide them under his hair and the only person who knew was his barber.

The barber was frustrated that he had to keep this secret. One day, he could not take it any more. He went to a bamboo forest and shouted out the secret “the king has donkey ears”, thinking no one will hear him. However, the wind carried the sound and spread the secret far and wide.

The story ended on a positive note that the king became a good listener to the concerns of his people and ruled his country well.

Say what you want to the king with donkey ears.

We took a break at a cafe located in a clearing. Besides hot coffee to go with our Snickers bar, we ordered a bamboo-flavoured ice-cream.

Bamboo-flavoured ice cream. Thick, creamy with mild taste of sugar cane and not too sweet.

Overall, we had about 2.5 hours of fun exploring the trails and taking lots of photos within the bamboo forest.

Our day in Damyang was not just about visiting Juknokwon and trying their noodles. Just a few kilometers walk away from Juknokwon is the Damyang Metasequoia-lined Road. More about our visit to Damyang’s Metasequoia-lined Road in the next post.